The Darkling Thrush

Thomas Hardy

1840 to 1928

Poem Image
Track 1

Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.

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The land's sharp features seemed to be
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
The Century's corpse outleant,
And I was unaware.
So little cause for carolings
Upon the growing gloom.
At once a voice arose among
I leant upon a coppice gate
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
Was written on terrestrial things
Seemed fervourless as I.
In blast-beruffled plume,
When Frost was spectre-grey,
That I could think there trembled through
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
In a full-hearted evensong
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The bleak twigs overhead
Had sought their household fires.
Was shrunken hard and dry,
The wind his death-lament.
His happy good-night air
And every spirit upon earth
Of such ecstatic sound
And Winter's dregs made desolate
Afar or nigh around,