The Darkling Thrush
I LEANT upon a coppice gateWhen Frost was spectre-gray,And Winter’s dregs made desolateThe weakening eye of day.The tangled bine-stems scored the skyLike strings from broken lyres,And all mankind that haunted nighHad sought their household fires.
The land’s sharp features seemed to beThe Century’s corpse outleant,His crypt the cloudy canopy,The wind his death-lament.The ancient pulse of germ and birthWas shrunken hard and dry,And every spirit upon earthSeemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice outburst amongThe bleak twigs overheadIn a full-hearted evensongOf joy illimited;An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,In blast-beruffled plume,Had chosen thus to fling his soulUpon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carollingsOf such ecstatic soundWas written on terrestrial thingsAfar or nigh around,That I could think there trembled throughHis happy good-night airSome blessed Hope, whereof he knewAnd I was unaware.
Words in this poem
- coppice n.
- A grove of small growth; a thicket of brushwood; a wood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes. See Copse. [OF. copeiz, fr. coper, couper, to cut, F. couper, fr. cop, coup, colp, a blow, F. coup, L. colaphus, fr. G. Copse, and cf. Coup, Coupee.]
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- crypt n.
- A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a subterranean chapel or oratory. [L. crypta vault, crypt, Gr. Crot, Crotto.]
- outburst n.
- A bursting forth.
- evensong n.
- A song for the evening; the evening service or form of worship (in the Church of England including vespers and compline); also, the time of evensong. Wyclif. [AS. æfensang.]
- illimited a.
- Not limited; interminable. Bp. Hall.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Darkling Thrush is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of the Past and the Present, Project Gutenberg ebook #3168; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/the-darkling-thrush.html, id L16917.
Form and metre
The Darkling Thrush is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 53% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD gateA · grayB · desolateA · dayB · skyC · lyresD · nighC · firesD
- 2 -A-ABCBC be · outleantA · canopy · lamentA · birthB · dryC · earthB · iC
- 3 A-A--B-B amongA · overhead · evensongA · illimited · small · plumeB · soul · gloomB
- 4 ABABCDCD carollingsA · soundB · thingsA · aroundB · throughC · airD · knewC · unawareD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I LEANT upon a coppice gate | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| When Frost was spectre-gray, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Winter’s dregs made desolate | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The weakening eye of day. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The tangled bine-stems scored the sky | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like strings from broken lyres, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And all mankind that haunted nigh | 8 | ··//·/˘· |
| Had sought their household fires. | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| The land’s sharp features seemed to be | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Century’s corpse outleant, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| His crypt the cloudy canopy, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The wind his death-lament. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The ancient pulse of germ and birth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was shrunken hard and dry, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And every spirit upon earth | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Seemed fervourless as I. | 6 | ······ |
| At once a voice outburst among | 8 | ····/··· |
| The bleak twigs overhead | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| In a full-hearted evensong | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Of joy illimited; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, | 7 | ······· |
| In blast-beruffled plume, | 5 | ····· |
| Had chosen thus to fling his soul | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon the growing gloom. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So little cause for carollings | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of such ecstatic sound | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Was written on terrestrial things | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Afar or nigh around, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| That I could think there trembled through | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His happy good-night air | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew | 7 | ······· |
| And I was unaware. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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