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Question
Referring closely to the poem, The Darkling Thrush, examine the poet's encounter with the aged thrush as a passage from amazement to introspection.
Solution
In "The Darkling Thrush," the poem commences with the poet observing a desolate and discouraging landscape, perceiving the world as progressively lifeless and in decline. Amid a search for reasons to feel joy and hope, the song of the thrush emerges as a source of beauty and vitality, filling the poet with amazement and wonder.
As the poem unfolds, the poet's initial amazement transforms into introspection. He begins to comprehend the profound meaning behind the bird's song, recognizing its ability to cut through the surrounding bleakness and darkness. The thrush, in the poet's eyes, becomes a symbol of resilience and endurance, finding beauty even in the midst of chaos, darkness, and disappointment. The bird's song serves as a revelation, reminding the poet that, despite the apparent desolation, nature retains a serene beauty.
In the final stanza, a moment of epiphany strikes the poet. He understands that the thrush's song symbolizes the enduring spirit within humans, offering a reason for hope and life. In essence, the poet acknowledges that the bird's song serves as a reminder that life persists even in darkness, and the potential for renewal and growth is an ongoing, ceaseless process.
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Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.
Their dying fire in need of logs;
The first man held his back.
For on the faces around the fire,
He noticed one was black.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
Explain with reference to context
The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death's still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn't die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
What happened to the six humans? Why?
'All right!' you 'll cry.'All right!' you'll say,
'But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children?Please explain!'
We'll answer this by asking you,
'What used the darling ones to do?
'How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?'
Have you forgotten? Don't you know?
We'll say it very loud and slow:
THEY ... USED ... TO ... READ! They'd READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
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Its a cruel thing to leave her so.”
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“No, dear,” he answered, in a kind voice, going to the bed, and stooping down over the child, “You she’n’t be left here alone.” Then he wrapped her with the gentleness almost of a woman, in the clean bedclothes which some neighbor had brought; and, lifting her in his strong arms, bore her out into the air and across the field that lay between the hovel and his home.
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|
“The photographer beckoned me in. I thought he seemed quieter and graver than before. I think, too, there was a certain pride in his manner. He unfolded the proof of a large photograph, and we both looked at it in silence. ‘Is it me?’ I asked. “Yes,” he said quietly, ‘it is you,” and we went on looking at it.” |
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