Question

Hardy’s best known bird poem was written on December 31, 1900, but its acknowledgment of defiant hope, or even optimism, still holds good.

Answer 1

In “The Darkling Thrush,” the bleak winter landscape suggests an old era coming to an end, while the thrush’s joyful song offers a sign of hope. Its song expresses a defiant optimism about the new century, even though the speaker cannot see the reason for that hope.