The Darling Thrush ~ by Thomas Hardy

0 Conversations


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 scorched the sky

Like strings of broken lyres

And all mankind that haunted nigh

Had sought their household fires.


The land’s sharp features seamed to be

The centuries 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

Seamed fervourless as I.


At once a voice arosse among

The bleak twigs overhead

In a full hearted evensong

Of joy unlimited.

An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small

In blast-beruffled plume

Had chosen thus to fling his soul

Upon the growing gloom.


So little cause for carolings

Of such ecstatic sound

Was written upon terrestrial things

Afar of nigh around

That I could think there trembled through

His happy good-night air

Some blessed hope whereof he knew

And I was unaware.


~ Thomas Hardy

Bookmark on your Personal Space


Conversations About This Entry

There are no Conversations for this Entry

Entry

A19732124

Infinite Improbability Drive

Infinite Improbability Drive

Read a random Edited Entry


Written and Edited by

References

h2g2 Entries

Disclaimer

h2g2 is created by h2g2's users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the Not Panicking Ltd. Unlike Edited Entries, Entries have not been checked by an Editor. If you consider any Entry to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please register a complaint. For any other comments, please visit the Feedback page.

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more