THOMAS HARDY'S DARKLING THRUSH ;AN ANALYSIS

Thomas Hardy's (1840-1928) "The Darkling Thrush" was published in 1901, New Years Day. It refers to the beginning of a new year, a new century and the uncertainty of change. The rhyming scheme is formulaic ababcdcd, the tone is pessimistic and yet there is something that resonates long after the poem has been read.
In the first line the narrator says,
"I leant upon a coppice gate"
This refers to a gate leading to a wood. Woods are often dark and gloomy. Normally a door or a gate leads to new beginnings but in this case it doesn't seem hopeful. He leans upon it, which suggests reflection but also tiredness. The season reflects the mood. It is winter and frosty, which reminds us of a coldness of emotions. He is alone taking in his surroundings.
The descriptive language about the frost being "specter-gray" highlights the bleakness of the environment. Gray isn't an interesting color. There is a tremendous sense of loneliness in the following lines:

"And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day."
For some people this time of year is a desolate time when others are surrounded by families. The word "dregs" suggests distaste; the last of something. There is a musical quality to the rhythm of this poem and even the following lines reflect this:
"The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres, (lines 5 and 6)"
The imagery unfolded by the above two lines could refer to the score of music and related to the words "strings" and "broken lyres". Broken strings would make an unpleasant sound, which reflects the narrator's mood. Score can also mean to cut something. It is as the stems are cutting into the sky. The coldness has meant that people have hurried inside to warm up by "their household fires" (line 8)
If the first stanza is about loneliness, the second one reflects the death of the century.
The imagery of death is used with words such as "corpse;" it is the death of not just a year, or a decade but a whole century. For Hardy, who would have been in his 50s, change would have felt harder to deal with. The world has "sharp features" not only physically but perhaps surrounding him with change. Even the wind reflects the mood of the poem it is described as a "death-lament."
Hardy concludes his second stanza with:
"And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I."
There is stillness. If "fervor" suggests excitement and energy then "fervourless" suggests Hardy, like nature is lacking. He has no enthusiasm for change. It is the third stanza
that will alter the mood of the poem slightly making it less pessimistic.
Even if the whole of the surroundings appear bleak, a thrush will sing breaking the spell of the quietness. It has "joy illimited." There is reference to religion with the words "evensong" as if the thrush is in touch with his creator. The thrush can bring some joy with his voice in the gloomy circumstances. This is a turning point in the poem; there is some hope that makes the narrator think. He is momentarily distracted with the noise.
The final stanza is controversial. It can be interpreted that the thrush brings hope to the narrator and ends the poem on a positive note. We are told how the bird has "such ecstatic sound" (line 3) when there was no reason for it, "so little cause for carolings" (line 1). Nature has found a secret source of hope the narrator is not familiar with and so the narrator feels a sense of peace.
Or it can be perceived that whilst the thrush is happy, the narrator is still not convinced. In the final two lines the narrator says,
"Some blessed hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware."
The narrator isn't aware of feeling anything positive. It is simply the bird who is content. The narrator still feels sorry for himself and a sense of despair.