Analysis Of “The Darkling Thrush”, By Thomas Hardy

5 Pages 1325 Words

As the title has already mentioned, this assignment will be an analysis on a poem by Thomas Hardy. The poem is called “The Darkling Thrush”, also known by another title, “By the Century’s deathbed”. My analysis will include elements such as the poems’ setting, structure, imagery, diction, rhyme scheme and theme. I will go into one element at the time, and them give examples from one stanza only in that element. I will not come back to the same elements in the other stanzas, even though they are there. Therefore, this will not be a complete analysis of every element in each of the stanzas. I’d rather prefer to give a thorough description of what the different elements are and then give a few examples of each of them. In then end I will try to come up with a conclusion. Setting: The poem takes place on New Years Eve, the last day of the 19th century. It’s also the end of the Victorian Age. Winter is bringing death and desolation with it. A tired old man leans over a coppice gate in a desolate area, seeing ghosts of the past and little hope in the future. Structure: This poem has 4 stanzas, each with 8 lines. This is what we call an octave. The lines changes between having 4 and 3 stressed syllables in them, which is called tetrameter (4) and trimeter (3). Since the lines also follow a form of having one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable etc, we also call it iambic. As an example I use the poems 1st stanza. Line number 1, 3, 5 and 7 each have 4 stressed syllables, therefore called iambic tetrameter ( / - / - / - / - ). Line number 2, 4, 6, and 8 each have 3 stressed syllables, therefore called iambic trimeter ( / - / - / - ) I leant upon a coppice gate 1 Where Frost was spectre-gray, 2 And Winter’s dregs made desolate 3 The weakening eye of day. 4 The tangled bine-stems scored the sky 5 Like strings of broken lyres, 6 And all mankind that haunted nigh 7 Had sought their household fires. 8 Imagery: Thro...