"The Darkling Thrush" is a poem by Thomas Hardy. Originally titled "By the Century's Deathbed", it was first published on 29 December 1900 in The Graphic. The poem was later published in London Times on 1 January
1. What impression does the poet have of the thrush as
suggested by the title? He feels very affectionate towards it
2. Why do you think he feels that way about the thrush?
Even though the thrush was close to its
end it’s enjoying its life by thinking of pleasant things.
I leant upon a coppice gate
When
Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The
weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the
sky
Like
strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had
sought their household fires.
ababcdcd
3.
Where is the poetic
persona? At the coppice gate / at the entrance to a small wood
4.
What is the temporal
setting of the poem? Probably the end of winter.
5.
How had the continuing
winter affected the day? It had destroyed the surroundings and had hidden the
previous century’s memorials deep under./ it had made the day cold and
dark
6.
Quote the simile used
in this stanza.
The tangled
bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres
7.
Where are the other
people? Others are staying warm and comfortable in their houses; meanwhile the
narrator comes outdoors and thinks about the disaster that had happened.
8.
What is the difference
between the voice and the rest of the community? The voice would not mind a
little physical discomfort in order to enjoy beauty and music; whereas, others
prefer comfort over beauty and music and stay indoors
The land's sharp features seemed to
be
The
Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The
wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was
shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed
fervourless as I.
efefghgh
9.
On what the corpse of
the century was leaning out from? The land’s sharp features
10.
What does the poet mean
by the first two lines of the 2nd stanza? Looking at the harsh
winter landscape he is reminded of the end of the 19th century which
he compares to a corpse
11.
What do you think had
made the “ancient pulse of germ and birth” hard and dry? The inhospitable
season
12.
What is the similarity
between the voice and all the other spirits on Earth? All are fervourless
At once a voice arose among
The
bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of
joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and
small,
In
blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon
the growing gloom.
ijijklkl
13.
What did the voice hear
in this stanza? The thrush’s singing
14.
What is the contrast
between the evensong and its maker? The maker of the evensong was an old thrush
who was very sick and about to die. But the ironic thing is that it sings about
the beauty also about the pleasant things in the middle of so many negative
things.
15.
Give an example of pun
on words in this stanza? Evensong
16.
What does the poet mean
by the use of that term? He is trying to say that in everything there is a good
side and a bad side, for an example, the word evensong illustrates the beauty of nature while showing the death
of the old thrush .
So little cause for carolings
Of
such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar
or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled
through
His
happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And
I was unaware.
mnmnopop
17.
Why does the voice say
that there was “[s]o little cause for carolings/ Of such ecstatic sound”? because everything he sees except the thrush
is lifeless and gloomy but the ecstatic sound
of the thrush makes everything warm and pleasant
18.
What was the song about
and how had it affected the voice? The song is about the death of a century and
how a single bird changes the negative feelings to something more pleasant
19.
Why do you think the
poet had renamed the poem that was originally titled “By the Century’s Beathbed”
to “The Darkling Thrush”? As the thrush’es singing made the poet feel that in
every negative thing there is a single thing to make all those bumb things
positive and wealthy
Techniques:
1. How
many stanzas are there? 4
2. What
is the rhyming scheme of this poem?
3. The
poet makes use of several coined words. Give examples of such words and explain
their possible meanings.
4. The
poet also uses several powerful images. Identify them and describe how they
affect the poem? There were so many imagery that makes this poem a valuable
things full of examples and messages – visual and auditory. The evensongs of
the little thrush evokes positive feelings in the poet’s heart and it helps the
narrator to develop this narrative through visual imagery; the image of winter
and thrush illustrate the power of positive things compared to the negative
things as the single verse of a thrush destroys the negative effects of the
disasters done by the strong winter and
let the writer think about the pleasant things
5. What
is the theme of this poem? Even though
we face so many negative things there is always a way with positive things .
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment