Question

The “The Darkling Thrush” is both a lament for the death of music and a celebration of its rebirth. Substantiate this observation in about 80-100 words.

Answer 1

Hardy first presents music as dead or broken: the tangled stems resemble the strings of “broken lyres,” while the people have gone indoors and the landscape seems lifeless. This silence reflects the close of the old century and the speaker’s despair. The thrush then releases a powerful, joyful song into the winter air. Its “full-hearted evensong” revives music where none seemed possible. Although the speaker does not know what inspires the bird, its song suggests that hope and creative life can return even in a desolate world.