Darkling Thrush Brief Analysis

Khang Nguyen
McMillan
APLit- P3
10-9-10
The Darkling Thrush Analysis

Poems at first sight seem to be merely several lines of words grouped together but there are elements within them that turn a plethora of intricately organized words into something meaningful. The poetic devices such as alliteration, consonance, and rhyme are more than just tools to make a grouping of words sound different. In fact, they bring depth and convey the writer’s feelings on a particular subject. A poem can show its true colors when read correctly and analytically. The poem “Darkling Thrush”, written by Thomas Hardy on December 31, 1900 uses a couple of these devices to express its’ tone, mood, and ideas.
In the first stanza, Thomas Hardy establishes the tone and setting of the poem with the use of sound patterns such as rhyme and alliteration. He uses end rhyme in the pattern ababcdcd throughout the poem which helps to combine the main thoughts of the subject together in each stanza. The narrator is shown to be in somewhat of a relaxed, thinking mood as he “leant upon a coppice gate”. Hardy mentions the words Winter and Frost, which clearly shows that the poem is set in a snowy land during the latter end of the year. Additionally, he describes Frost as “spectre-gray” which apparently gives a sense of emptiness and a dark mood to the poem. This point is further reinforced with the defining of Winter’s dregs as “desolate”. The combined usage of the adjective desolate and spectre-grey intricately defines the setting. Simile is used to compare bine stems to broken lyres (a musical instrument) to provide imagery. The final two lines demonstrates how the speaker notices that while the mood is bleak outside, people are still happy in their household environments residing by their “household fires”. Some alliteration can be found in this stanza as well- When, Winter, Weakening; Haunted and Household. The first three alliterations all unify a common thought of the setting. The last two consonance (H’s) contrast two settings.
The second stanza includes the same sound patterns as the former- that is, alliteation and end rhyme. As in the first stanza, this stanza is also characterizing the setting. Alliteration can be found in lines 10-12 with the letter c (century, corpse, crypt, cloudy, canopy). The land’s cold features are personified and described emphasized by the alliteration. In the rest of the stanza, the narrator implies that winter had taken over the earth and had made plants “shrunken and dry”. The rhyme scheme seems to link together elements of the stanza together and contribute to an overall dreary, hopeless feeling.
In the third stanza, the usage of assonance, alliteration, and end-rhyme can be documented. The depressing tone underscored in the previous stanzas is broken by a voice (line 17). The narrator comes across a lively songbird (old thrush) that takes his mind off the harsh landscape. Assonance (line 17, o, line 18-19 –ea-) helps to make this change of events more significant to the eye of the reader. Alliteration further strengthens the new tone with “ blast-berefuffled” (line 22) and “growing-gloom”. The alliteration takes place when the narrator describes how the bird is somehow defying the weather and feeling opposite of what the narrator is experiencing. Half rhyme can be accounted for with small and soul (lines 21 and 23, respectively).
As with the other stanzas, the final stanza contains the same rhyme scheme as well as alliteration and assonance. Alliteration with Cause and Caroling emphasizes the narrator’s incredulity toward the bird. The assonance –ou- is found on lines 26,28, and twice on 29. The narrator wanted to know why the bird was so joyful while he was not. This mystery is amplified by the assonance and alliteration that occurs throughout the stanza.
Sound patterns are vital in exemplifying the meaning, tone, setting, mood and more in a poem. They generally helped Thomas Hardy to define and elaborate his writing. Without the usage of sound patterns, the lines would cease to have more meaning than what is presented. Lines would lose emphasis and the entire poem would lack any literary elements that would express what was being implied by the poet.