The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy?

Question

how does this poem begin with gloom and end with hope?

Answer 1

This poem by Hardy is pretty self explanatory, but it may help to picture the setting in which it was written.

Imagine him  leaning on a gate at dusk on a cold winter's day and looking out over the desolate "Egdon Heath" which covered much of Dorset in Hardy's time. It was the last day of the 19th century and he reflects on worldwide conflicts of that period (Napoleonic wars,Boer war,Crimean war,etc etc --little did he know of what was just around the corner in the 20th century!)

  Then, he hears a "frail, gaunt, and small" thrush singing its beautiful song in that bleak scene, and ponders on the thought that perhaps there was "some blessed Hope, whereof he knew, and I was unaware"

Hardy is often considered rather a depressing author and poet (he wrote over 900 poems)  but if you read his wonderful poems of love, life's ironies, and satire, you will realize this is far from true.

Happy reading !!