The Darkling Thrush Thomas Hardy Anna-Claire Maddox Madison Morris and Austin Kennedy

Author Bio He was born June 2, One of the most renowned poets and novelists in English literary history. Died in a house he built for him and his first wife in He was influenced by the musicality of his father.

The Darkling Thrush I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter's dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires. The land's sharp features seemed to be The Century's corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind his death-lament. The ancient pulse of germ and birth Was shrunken hard and dry, And every spirit upon earth Seemed fervourless as I. L

The Darkling Thrush At once a voice arose among The bleak twigs overhead In a full-hearted evensong Of joy illimited; An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, In blast-beruffled plume, Had chosen thus to fling his soul Upon the growing gloom. So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around, That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware.

Poem Analysis The first two stanzas provide the setting of the poem. Hardy’s poetic persona is standing at the edge of a “coppice,” a thicket of bushes or small trees. He surveys a desolate scene at the end of a winter day. He is alone in that “haunted night”; all the rest of humankind “had sought their household fires.” The words “the Century’s corpse” and “the ancient pulse of germ and birth” refer to the turn of the century. The other important information is about the poet’s state of mind. He is deeply depressed, stating that the dismal scene is “fervorless as I.”

Lit Elements Frost and Winter are personified. The bird referenced is known as a Thrush. It is known as a close relative to the Nightingale. (allusion to the “Ode to Nightingale”). Hope is personified.

Themes ●Dark times with a fading hope ●Describing how the season affects culture ●The bird represents a possibility for greater success in the future ● He expressed what he felt by describing the weather and environment

Speaker's Tone He viewed the environment as dark, gloomy, gray, and depressing. The bird is seen as a form of hope for the near future. He used words that can describe the weather based on what people are familiar with. He compared dregs to what the snow was like.