Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush" - Poem Analysis Essay Sample

Thomas Hardy's The Darkling Thrush which was published in the close of the 19th century is such a thrilling poem written with deeper enthusiasm as the new era was in the close. Having mirrored Victorian aspects and romanticism literature is steeped in the age of romantics which had a lot of attachment to the pinnacle of the poet's motives? Just like other romantics; poems, darkling thrush is more influenced by the nature in which it serves to foster spiritual guidance as well as a vast inspiration to the readers (Hardy, 18). Within the poem, Hardy takes some heart from the singing bird which resembles the Keats's nightingales which have a way of transforming the mood from the point of depression to hope.

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The Darkling has a link to the New Year since hardy composed it on December 31st, 1990 and he made its title while on deathbed. Ironically, the poem was published on January during the turn of the New Year of 1901 to represent the New Year's Day poem. It goes further to describe the harsh winter landscape which was entirely covered by a blanket of snow, with skeletal trees like the tangled bines-stems covered in frost (Hardy, 20) This description ideally was an exemplification of the end of the nineteenth century and what a tragedy that ushered the twentieth century. From the readers perspective, the poem's description abounds marred with images of death: in the first place, the frost is "specter-grey," the day's eye is presented as weakening meaning it was getting dark and the people within are the humankind that haunted the night (Hardy, 21). Additionally, the dark canopy is an exemplification of a "crypt" and the eerie whirling wind which is a death lament.

Hardy's poetic work is evident in his darkling thrush which is a thirty-two line lyrical poem having four stanzas each composed of eight lines. In the beginning, the first stanza is giving a set of the poem. Here, hardy's poetic persona is standing on the edge of a "coppice of bushes where he surveys a desolate scene which is the result of the winter season. Euphorically, hardy is alone in that "haunted night" when all the rest of humanity had sought their household fires. In the second stanza, there is two important information Hardy alludes to the reader: period, this is the time when the poem was written which is typically included in the printing of the poem as December 1990. Information given in the second stanza is the state of mind of the poet (Hardy, 24). He is presented as deeply engrossed in depression as he states "fervorless as I."

Having captured the reader's mood by the deadly cold winter, the author makes uses of imagery themes and moods in trying to assert the state of things. Imagery is brought out when the death of classical comes to the scene. When classical is mentioned, it is eluded because it relates to the ancient Rome or Greece. In the darkling thrust, hardy attempt to bring out all the old favourites: these are the seasons, the gods as well as the elements that make cameo appearances. The thing in this poem is that everything in it is made classical allusions coupled with images of death and decay. Within line two and three, capitalizing "Frost" give it a look of being less like natural element and exemplifies it like an abnormality. In other words, it is being personified, and that makes it more of the traditional type of personification which allows the poem to allude to the entire symbolic register. When an ordinary thing like frost is capitalized, the reader is immediately reminded of the pagan gods of winter.

At the nadir of the poem, the third stanza presents sudden hurling out of a song by a thrush which seemingly looks like an interjection or rather a foolish optimism within the poem (Hardy, 24). The fact that hardy decides to use the bird makes him one of the finest poet. His choice of an old frail, this and scruffy looking thrush presents a romantic tradition in the making. The song elicited is one ordinary and indigenous but one which is blast-be ruffled surviving the strong winter winds which the poet had painted in initially.

Everything that now exists around both natural and human is in essence "flavorless" and looks gloomy. It is only the bird in the poem having a spirited song showing a positive glimmer of "hope." however, this is a lyrical poem which goes against hardy's usual pessimism. This is deemed so because of the romanticism as well as the bird's influence which is expressed in a remarkable image of joy (Hardy, 26). Note, however, that the poet in the prices does not precisely share in the bird's ecstasy as he sees no cause for caroling. This is the point where hardy is falling in line which the rise of modern poetry which follows the Victorian. This is the period in which many poets saw the age as lacking in the religious mainstream. This posits the theme of as well as preoccupations for the whole first quarter of the 20th century creating the responsibility of new poetic forms which brought in "modern" verse.

In contrast with the Darkling, Gerard Manley sharply contrasts Thomas in ways through which he posits his poetic work on god's grandeur. The typicality is manifested through one case in which he eludes god's strength and how people he created underestimate him. He develops a feeling that the people are stray, they do not have regard to god nor do they have fear to the god who created and granted a religion to them (Hopkins, 31). One of the similarities between Thomas` the darkling thrust and Gerard Manley's god's grandeur is the metaphorical use of imagery and styles within the poetic works.

In the same manner in which Gerard Manley dispense his motive behind religion and faith, heady is also carefully asserting his commitment to being sentimental. He sees no cause for joy, but he has a hope which oscillates in the religious faith which is conveyed through the thrust caroling which reminiscent of the Christmas carols. Hope ideally is one of the greatest Christian values, as well as faith and hope (Hopkins, 33). In similar rejoinder, the poets seem to have a uniting factor or rather a belief which is making a central theme in their poetic works. "Darkling In The Thrust", therefore, is typically one of the Hardy's works which shows a glimpse of life on earth in which animal and humanity that exist under the fist of unsympathetic force is dealt unknowns in the world. The symbol analysis, therefore, is the imaginary line where the great final smiles of the dark in the poem come to a catastrophic end.

Work Cited

Hardy, Thomas. The darkling thrush. University of Colorado, 1966.

Hopkins, Gerard Manley, and Charles Wright. God's Grandeur. ProQuest LLC, 2004.