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    THE Darkling Thrush: Thomas Hardy

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    Harsahib Singh
    The poem reflects on the end of the 19th century and the decline of Western civilization. The speaker sees a desolate winter landscape as a metaphor for this decay. However, in the final stanza, the song of a thrush introduces a note of hope and possibility for renewal in the new century.

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    THE Darkling Thrush: Thomas Hardy

    Uploaded by

    Harsahib Singh
    99 views20 pages
    The poem reflects on the end of the 19th century and the decline of Western civilization. The speaker sees a desolate winter landscape as a metaphor for this decay. However, in the final stanza, the song of a thrush introduces a note of hope and possibility for renewal in the new century.

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    The poem reflects on the end of the 19th century and the decline of Western civilization. The speaker sees a desolate winter landscape as a metaphor for this decay. However, in the final stanza, the song of a thrush introduces a note of hope and possibility for renewal in the new century.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    99 views20 pages

    THE Darkling Thrush: Thomas Hardy

    Uploaded by

    Harsahib Singh
    The poem reflects on the end of the 19th century and the decline of Western civilization. The speaker sees a desolate winter landscape as a metaphor for this decay. However, in the final stanza, the song of a thrush introduces a note of hope and possibility for renewal in the new century.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 20

    THE

    DARKLING
    THRUSH
    THOMAS HARDY
    THOMAS HARDY (2 June 1840 – 11
    January 1928) 

     Hardy was the eldest of the four children of Thomas


    Hardy, a stonemason and jobbing builder, and his
    wife, Jemima
     Hardy began his writing career as a novelist
     Hardy’s poetry explores a bleak outlook against the
    dark, rugged landscape of his native Dorset.
     He rejected the Victorian belief in a benevolent
    God, and much of his poetry is a lament on the
    bleakness of the human condition.
    THOMAS HARDY
    BACKGROUND
     Written in December 1900, the poem reflects on
    the end of the 19th century and the state of
    Western civilization.
     The desolation of the scene the speaker sees serves
    as an extended metaphor for the decay of Western
    civilization
     Western culture is in a state of desolation: it seems
    to be damaged and dead, without the possibility of
    rebirth or resurrection.
    BACKGROUND
     The desolate images of the landscape are perhaps
    also references to industrialization.
     The Crisis of Faith refers to an event in the
    Victorian era in which much of Europe’s middle
    class begins to doubt what is written in the book of
    Genesis
     Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859 
    THEMES
     DECLINE OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION

     LOSS OF FAITH IN RELIGION

     DESPAIR AND LOSS

     HOPE OF RENEWAL
    STANZA 1
     Sets the tone and
    setting of the poem
     Leaning posture
    suggests pondering
    over or thinking about
    something
     Coppice gate-- a gate
    that opens onto the
    woods
    STANZA 1 (CONTD.)
     FROST WAS
    SPECTRE GREY–
    winter, cold, grey like a
    ghost– personification
     Haunted landscape
     Death or end of the
    century
    STANZA 1 (CONTD.)
     Winter’s dreg’s – the end of winter
     Desolate– lonely and empty
     Weakening eye of Day– the setting sun--
    personification
     The poem begins with endings– the end of the day,
    the end of the year, the end of the century.
    Tangled bine-stems scored the sky/
    Like strings of broken lyre
    Lines 5-6– signifies lack of harmony
    in nature
     bine-stems– reference  Lyre– ancient musical
    to creepers (woodbine) instrument
     Tangled– twisted  Broken strings– Lack
    together untidily of harmony
     Scored the sky– cut
    through and reach
    upwards
     Household fire is the
    Lines 7-8 hearth which give warmth.
     Having found nothing
    comforting in nature
    people decided to return
    home to the warmth of the
    household fire.
     Haunted nigh– present
    nearby.
    The land’s sharp features
    seemed to be/ The
    Century’s corpse outleant.
    Metaphor + Personification
    The winter landscape is a sign of the
    events of the past century
    It is a sign of the deterioration that
    has taken place
    Lines 3-4 EXTENDED METAPHOR
    Lines 5-6
     The ancient pulse of
    germ and birth– the
    cycle of germination
    and growth.
     Was shrunken hard and
    dry– nature seems
    dead.
    Lines 7-8
     The lifeless nature and
    desolation around
    made the poet more
    pessimistic
     Everything and
    everyone seems to lack
    energy and enthusiasm.
    Stanza 3
     Thrush is the symbol of
    the dying century
     The thrush’s song ushers
    in hope– changes the
    tone of the poem
     ‘Chosen’– despite his
    terrible condition.
     ‘Joy illimited’– happy
    song.
    Stanza 4
     Carolings– Christmas carols
     The poet could not understand why the thrush was
    so joyful. He could not see anything around him
    that would bring joy.
     ‘Hope’ – religious symbol
     Ambiguous ending– but some hope is there that
    things will turn out fine in the coming century.
    Conclusion
     Elegy– sad poem mourning a loss– here the loss of
    the century or the loss of religious faith.
     Hardy begins the poem in a dark, lifeless
    atmosphere.
     Suddenly, the thrush brings the poem to life by
    singing – introduces a hope for a better century.
    Language and Structure
     Each stanza is an octet with regular rhyming
    scheme.
     Personification
     Alliteration
     Assonance: “At once….”
     Metaphor
     Simile
     Symbolism

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