01-20-2015, 04:28 AM
I actually wrote a paper on The Darkling Thrush about a million years ago. I think there is a lot about this poem that represents the difference in outlooks towards poetry in general. It is easy to forget that every successful poem ever written is about people - not land or skies or centuries.
Setting:
Winter, countryside or rural area right around dusk. I would suspect that it is around February as the Thrush is a migratory bird. It probably should not return until March but this one is early.
Summary:
our narrator stands alone toward the end of day in winter pondering his surroundings and noting how ugly and desolate things are in winter. He is in a foul mood. He is surprised by the song of an early thrush. He ponders the cause for the birds joy.
Analysis:
i would say this poem is about our narrator. He is depressed. Why? i would guess that our narrator is a creative sort (much like Hardy himself) by the line "the ancient pulse of germ and birth" - both of these items are frequently used as symbols for creativity as far back as the Greeks. i would say his latest endeavors are not going so well by the line "like strings of broken lyres" - the lyre, of course, is the symbol of the muse and of poetry. Every spirit on the earth seems fervourless as our narrator - even though he is all alone! Our narrator is in a funk. All around him he sees signs of death, endings, pessimism.
Lo and behold we have a single bird - also looking like it has had a tough time - but it is singing joyously out to the world even though it is in the same desolate landscape as our narrator. A weaker author at this point might have chosen to have our narrator suddenly see the "bright side" and perhaps overcome his melancholy but Hardy is a realist, his narrator dismisses the birds joyous caroling as unwarranted and finishes with the pessimistic thought that perhaps the bird knows something that he doesn't.
The poem, as far as I can tell, is about the difficult challenges of dealing with pessimism and depression. Challenges made, perhaps, more cumbersome when others are joyful or telling you just to cheer the fuck up. Just my analysis.
The Title:
Ask yourself, why the DARKLING thrush? How does our narrator view this singing bird? Darkling is generally used to refer to ill omens, evil, etc.
I see no support at all that this poem has anything to do with industrialization but perhaps I am missing something? Can you find something in the poem that refers to industrialization?
Setting:
Winter, countryside or rural area right around dusk. I would suspect that it is around February as the Thrush is a migratory bird. It probably should not return until March but this one is early.
Summary:
our narrator stands alone toward the end of day in winter pondering his surroundings and noting how ugly and desolate things are in winter. He is in a foul mood. He is surprised by the song of an early thrush. He ponders the cause for the birds joy.
Analysis:
i would say this poem is about our narrator. He is depressed. Why? i would guess that our narrator is a creative sort (much like Hardy himself) by the line "the ancient pulse of germ and birth" - both of these items are frequently used as symbols for creativity as far back as the Greeks. i would say his latest endeavors are not going so well by the line "like strings of broken lyres" - the lyre, of course, is the symbol of the muse and of poetry. Every spirit on the earth seems fervourless as our narrator - even though he is all alone! Our narrator is in a funk. All around him he sees signs of death, endings, pessimism.
Lo and behold we have a single bird - also looking like it has had a tough time - but it is singing joyously out to the world even though it is in the same desolate landscape as our narrator. A weaker author at this point might have chosen to have our narrator suddenly see the "bright side" and perhaps overcome his melancholy but Hardy is a realist, his narrator dismisses the birds joyous caroling as unwarranted and finishes with the pessimistic thought that perhaps the bird knows something that he doesn't.
The poem, as far as I can tell, is about the difficult challenges of dealing with pessimism and depression. Challenges made, perhaps, more cumbersome when others are joyful or telling you just to cheer the fuck up. Just my analysis.
The Title:
Ask yourself, why the DARKLING thrush? How does our narrator view this singing bird? Darkling is generally used to refer to ill omens, evil, etc.
I see no support at all that this poem has anything to do with industrialization but perhaps I am missing something? Can you find something in the poem that refers to industrialization?