3. THOMAS HARDY
› Thomas Hardy, the son of a stonemason, was born in Dorset, England, on June 2,
1840. He trained as an architect and worked in London and Dorset for ten years.
› A Victorian , realist, Hardy realised the social constraints on the lives of those
living in the Victorian England.
› He criticized those beliefs, especially those relating to marriage, education and
religion, that limited people’s lives and caused unhappiness.
› Hardy was known to strictly oppose the confines of the Victorian period.
5. INTO THE MINDS OF
HARDY
the roots of his
fear
Pre-Industrial Society
Pre-industrial society refers to social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the
advent of the Industrial Revolution, which occurred from 1750 to 1850. Pre-industrial is a time before there were machines and
tools to help perform tasks. Pre-industrial civilization dates back to centuries ago, but the main era known as the pre-industrial
society occurred right before the industrial society. Pre-Industrial societies vary from region to region depending on the culture
of a given area or history of social and political life. Europe was known for its feudal system and the Italian Renaissance.
Harsh working conditions were prevalent long before the Industrial Revolution took place. Pre-industrial society was very static
and often cruel – child labour , dirty living conditions, and long working hours were equally as prevalent before the Industrial
Revolution.
6. The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the transition to
new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States
Factory System: - Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most of the workforce was employed in
agriculture, either as self-employed farmers as landowners or tenants, or as landless agricultural
labourer. It was common for families in various parts of the world to spin yarn, weave cloth and
make their own clothing. Households also spun and wove for market production. The industrial
revolution changed the traditional methods of the textile industries by introducing more efficient
ways like the spinning jenny. The majority of textile factory workers during the Industrial
Revolution were unmarried women and children, including many orphans. They typically worked
for 12 to 14 hours per day with only Sundays off.
Standards of Living: - Though there was a growth in the economy of the nation. living standards
for the majority of the population did not grow meaningfully until the late 19th and 20th
centuries, and that in many ways workers' living standards declined under early capitalism: for
instance, studies have shown that real wages in Britain only increased 15% between the 1780s
and 1850s and that life expectancy in Britain did not begin to dramatically increase until the
1870s.
Food and Nutrition: - hunger and malnutrition were the norm for the majority of the population
of the world including Britain and France, until the late 19th century. Until about 1750, in large
part due to malnutrition, life expectancy in France was about 35 years and about 40 years in
Britain.
8. I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The poet paints a somber
picture of the world. The mood
feels lonely and meditative, the
speaker watching as a silent
bystander leaning upon the
coppice gate — a gate that
opens onto the woods. In his
loneliness, the poet
has personified Winter and
Frost. Frost is described as
‘specter–grey’ or ghost-like
grey. The Winter’s dregs — the
fallen snow and heavy fog —
are making the twilight/ dusk
(the weakening eye of day) look
desolate. So, as you can see, the
Winter and the Frost are bleak
company — they cannot arouse
any sense of cheerfulness.
9. The tangled bine-
stems scored the
sky
Like strings of
broken lyres,
And all mankind
that haunted nigh
Had sought their
household fires
Climbing plants, dead for winter,
have left behind only their climbing
stems or bine stems. They add to
the gloominess as the poem
compares them to the simile of
strings of broken lyres (a musical
instrument) notching the sky. This
comparison is also important in
suggesting the lack of music or
happiness for that matter.
Even people seem listless and
haunting, instead of living their
lives. Then people going home and
seeking their household fires add to
the image of the gloomy end of the
day. There is no vibrancy in life or
color.
10. The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
Winter in the Northern
Hemisphere is also the end of the
year. Here it becomes even more
meaningful, as the end of the
year in this case also marks the
end of the century. This is why
the century is personified as a
corpse; the harsh winter
landscape defining its wasted
body. The ‘cloudy canopy’ or sky
covers the century’s tomb and
the sad wind becomes a song of
death.
11. The ancient pulse of
germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and
dry,
And every spirit upon
earth
Seemed fervourless as
I.
In winter, Nature is
generally at a standstill.
Life’s vibrancy (ancient
pulse of germ and birth)
seems to have stopped
(shrunken hard and dry).
The dormant environment
feeds the poet’s brooding
frame of mind. The scale of
his pessimism increases.
Dull observations escalate
to a despairing mindset and
the poet only sees a world
without promise or future.
12. At once a voice arose
among
The bleak twigs
overhead
In a full-hearted
evensong
Of joy illimited;
Suddenly, like the proverbial
silver lining to dark clouds,
a joyful song breaks into the
poet’s despairing outlook
from among the frosty twigs
overhead. The poet calls the
thrush’s melody a ‘full-
hearted evensong’ —
prayers sung at the end of
the day, in the evening. The
song was coming out of
boundless joy. The use of
word ‘illimited’, suggests
that the joy was something
uncommon.
13. An aged thrush, frail,
gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling
his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
But who was it singing? It was an
old thrush bird — feeble, lean and
small, with its feathers disarranged
by the wind (blast-beruffled).
Though the thrush’s appearance
does not arouse any hope,
heedless of the oppressive
environment and the growing
darkness — the mark of struggling
to survive in winter — the thrush
sings. The bird puts his soul into
his voice as he belts out a happy
tune to no one but the Eternal
Listener.
The thrush and its song seem to
overcome the initial melancholy
that the atmosphere brought even
to the readers.
14. So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial
things
Afar or nigh around,
No one knows what inspires
the darkling thrush singing
(compared to singing
Christmas carols). The
‘ecstatic sound’ of the thrush
is in complete contrast to
such a hopeless situation. The
poet cannot think of any
earthly event or cause, near
or far away that could be
responsible.
15. That I could think there
trembled through
His happy good-night
air
Some blessed Hope,
whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
The thrush’s song is an
enigma, and the poet
marvels at the blessed
Hope or knowledge the
bird has. There are no
straight answers. Does the
thrush sing a song of
farewell — a hymn of
gratitude for the good
things that have been? Or
does he sing a song of
hope — a reassurance of
good things that are to
come? Like the poet, we
can only wonder, keep our
hearts open and just be
glad that there is a reason
to be happy at all.
16. LITERARY DEVICES
Imagery
• The speaker leaning against a 'coppice gate'. (visual)
• The tangled bine-stems scoring the sky. (visual)
• The cloudy canopy. (visual)
• A voice arising among the bleak twigs (auditory)
Alliteration:
• tangled bine-stems scored the sky ('s' sounds) (line 5)
Had sought their household fires ('h' sounds)(line 8)
• His crypt the cloudy canopy ('c' sounds) (line 11)
17. Metaphor
• Frost as 'specter grey'.
• The sun has been linked to 'eye of the day'.
• Century's corpse: Comparison of century to a dead body
• His crypt the cloudy canopy: Comparison of the cloud cover
to a crypt.
Personification
• Frost has been treated as a ghost.
• The day has an eye like humans.
• The century dies like humans and has a corpse that awaits burial. The thrush is not a mere
bird. It is personified as hope.
Simile
• The tangled bines stems scored the sky like stems of
broken lyres.
18. RHYME SCHEME
The poet follows traditional rhyme
scheme up until the third stanza.
Perhaps this is to highlight the
narrator’s moments of clarity versus
his moments of confusion.
20. Nature and the Decline of Human Civilization
› "The Darkling Thrush” appears to be a poem
about a winter landscape, which the speaker
describes in considerable detail. On a
symbolic level, however, this landscape is
an extended metaphor: its bleakness and
decay reflect the state of Western culture
at the end of the 19th century. The speaker
describes Western culture in a state of
desolation: it seems to be damaged and
dead, without the possibility of rebirth or
resurrection. The poem provides a subtle
critique of the way that the West has failed
to take care of its own natural and cultural
resources.
› In the first stanza, the speaker compares
“tangled-bine stems”—the stems of a
climbing plant—to the “strings of broken
lyres.” The “lyre” is a significant symbol: it
represents poetry and, more broadly, the
cultural accomplishment of Western
civilization. Its broken strings suggest that
Western culture itself has fallen into
disrepair or, like the “bine-stems,” has not
been properly maintained and pruned. In
21. › The second stanza expands on this idea, with a series of metaphors that describe
the landscape as embodying the death of the 19th century and its culture. The
speaker compares the landscape’s “sharp features” to “the Century’s corpse.” Since
the poem was written late in 1900, most scholars take this as a reference to the
end of the 19th century. The century is dead because it’s literally over, but it’s also
dead in a broader sense: the simile in the previous stanza with the “broken lyres”
suggests that the speaker feels that its culture has in some way failed.
› The speaker begins the poem leaning on a “coppice gate.” A “coppice” is a managed
forest, which foresters cut back regularly to stimulate growth. But with the “bine-
stems” growing up into the sky, it seems that this coppice has not been recently cut
back. This image suggests that human beings have shirked their duty to care for the
land they use. Since the landscape is a metaphor for the state of Western culture,
the implication is thus that people have acted as poor caretakers for Western
culture itself.
› These images of the landscape are perhaps also references to industrialization, the
process by which the economy shifted from farming to factories. This process did
significant damage to the English landscape, and it also caused the depopulation of
rural parts of England. As factories took over the work—such as weaving and lace-
making—that had been traditionally done by rural populations, people left their farms
to work in the cities' factories.
› The speaker does not propose any remedies to address the situation. Indeed, the
speaker does not seem to believe any improvement is possible. In the final lines of
the second stanza, the speaker complains that the cycle of death and rebirth has
ended: it is “shrunken hard and dry.” Judging from the first half of the poem, it
seems that the cultural death the speaker describes will not end or reverse; it is
22. Despair and Isolation
› “The Darkling Thrush” in part uses its description of a
bleak winter landscape as an extended metaphor for
the cultural decline of Western civilization. But it is
also a literal, detailed description of the world—and
of the speaker’s state of mind while looking out onto
that landscape. The speaker seems filled with a sense
of isolation and despair, and these feelings strongly
shape how the speaker interprets the surrounding
world. Intentionally or not, the poem suggests the
cyclical and self-fulfilling nature of negativity.
› The speaker describes him as “fervourless” (meaning
depressed or lacking passion), and then sees this trait
reflected everywhere. Not only does “every spirit”
seem as “fervourless” as the speaker, the speaker
constantly interprets the natural world in terms that
reinforce his own state of mind. For example, the
speaker describes the “Frost” as “spectre-grey,”
meaning it looks like a ghost or a spirit. The speaker
interprets the frost as a sign that the world is dead,
lifeless, and hopeless. However, one could imagine a
different speaker interpreting the landscape
differently; for instance, there is no objective basis
for seeing the “land’s sharp features” as an image of
the “Century’s corpse.” They could just as soon be
23. › While the poem’s landscape is described in detail, it is not described
objectively: instead, each element becomes another testament to the
speaker’s personal emotions and priorities. The poem’s second stanza,
for example, consists of a long list of metaphors, one building on the
next: the landscape is like the “Century’s corpse,” the clouds are like a
“crypt,” the wind like a “death-lament.” The speaker is thus trapped in
a vicious cycle: his or her emotions shape the landscape, which then
reinforces his or her emotions.
› This cycle holds until the thrush appears in the poem, in stanza 3. The
thrush refuses to assimilate to the speaker’s view of the world or to
reinforce the speaker’s emotions. Though the bird is skinny and
bedraggled—potentially as much a symbol of despair as the clouds
overhead or the wind whistling—it nonetheless sings a hopeful song. The
speaker thus concludes that the thrush knows something the speaker
doesn’t: “Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew / And I was unaware.”
› In its brilliant, inexplicable hopefulness, the thrush forces the speaker
to recognize the existence of emotions beyond despair and isolation.
Furthermore, the thrush makes the speaker recognize elements of the
outside world that cannot be interpreted through those emotions. It
24. Hope and Renewal
› The first half of “The Darkling Thrush” describes a
desolate winter landscape—an extended metaphor for
the decay of Western culture, which the speaker
presents as dead or unsalvageable. Just as the poem
seems to be sliding into despair, however, a symbol of
hope and renewal bursts onto the scene: a singing
“thrush.” Various details suggest that the speaker
treats the thrush as a symbol for religious faith and
devotion. The speaker thus presents renewed religious
faith as a solution to the cultural crisis he or she
describes in the first half of the poem.
› The speaker describes the bird that appears in the
second half of the poem in considerable detail, down its
feathers. It is possible, then, to read the “Hope” that
the bird expresses and represents literally: the
speaker’s bad mood is lifted, partially, by the bird and
its song.
› One key detail is that the speaker describes the bird’s
song as “a full-hearted evensong.” Evensong is a ritual
in the Anglican Church: it is evening prayers, chants,
and songs. The speaker thus describes the bird’s song
as embodying a religious ritual. And in the next stanza,
the speaker calls the “Hope” in the thrush’s song
“blessed.” The word “blessed” once again suggests
religious rituals and beliefs. And “Hope” itself may be
symbolic here: it’s not just any hope, but the Christian
hope for resurrection—that is, life after death. As
25. › The thrush’s appearance in the poem suggests a solution to the
cultural decay that the speaker documents in the first half of the
poem. In the first half of the poem, the speaker treats the bleak
landscape as an extended metaphor for the cultural decline of
Western civilization—a decline so severe that the speaker sees no
possibility that it might be renewed or reborn. But the hope the
thrush embodies does offer the possibility of renewal and
resurrection, specifically through religious faith.
› That said, the speaker is "unaware" of this "blessed Hope."
Perhaps this means that the bird is singing in vain, and the
Christian tradition it evokes is as doomed as the rest of
civilization. This would suggest that this tradition is itself rather
oblivious, blind to the reality of the world around it. Alternatively,
the presence of the happy bird in the midst of such drudgery
suggests the opposite: that religious faith is the one thing that
will survive the march of time. It's up to the reader to decide.
