The darkling Thrush- Pessimism and optimism

In the sense of brevity and descriptive art, "The Darkling Thrush" is the masterpiece of Thomas Hardy which at the same time expresses his mixed reaction - pessimism and optimism for the coming generation. The vast desolate winter atmosphere and lifelessness create a fit occasion to give rise in the poet’s mind to the central thought embodied in the poem- a pensive  reflection to life and society.
         First of all the poet presents a desolate winter scene at the close of the day. People living nearby had retired indoors. There was frost which was pale as ghost. The inclement weather of the winter still prevailed and the sun has already set on the western horizon. The stems of the bine trees have already reached the sky. Each and every member of the society was in earnest quest of their domestic entertainments. The poet is leant upon the gate. The sharp features of the landscape appeared to be the dead body of the nineteenth century. The century was almost dying. The process of birth and growth seemed to have stopped in the rigorous winter. The sky was cloudy, a storm was blowing. Every living being felt gloom and depression. But suddenly a song issued from the dark and decayed branches of the tree. It was spontaneous and it comes from the inner most core of the heart. It was excessively joyous and delightful. An old thrush that was lean, frail and weak was singing to his heart’s content in the midst of enveloping darkness. The poet finds the ray of hope in the bird’s song. He hopes for the coming golden future.
          Hardy’s thrush represents his pessimism in the midst of optimism or reversal. It seems that Hardy is stranded between optimism and pessimism, between hope and despair. The poet is acutely suffering from a kind of dilemma or conflict. The evening symbolizes left helpless, despair, frustration, mental darkness and disillusionment. But the song of the thrush symbolizes the spirit of hope, a hope for a world of beauty, a world which is devoid of ugliness. It represents the passing away of an old century and heralding of a bright and hopeful new century.
          Hardy’s "The Darkling Thrush" is the basis of Hardy’s self-designated “evolutionary meliorism”. Hardy has a growing consciousness or awareness of the ‘blessed hope’ for the future generation. Hardy is basically pessimistic but a note of optimism is noticed here in his faith in man’s future. The song of the thrush is joyous and spontaneous. The bird by virtue of its instinct knows the future but the poet is not aware of. Here Hardy’s attitude to nature is philosophical. Nature’s outward appearance may change but life in Nature in never dead.