The Darkling Thrush

Originally titled "By the Century's Deathbed", it was first published on 29 December 1900 in The Graphic.

The first two stanzas describe a bleak winter landscape at dusk, and the feeling of lifelessness that it produces.

In stanza three, the melancholy atmosphere is transformed when "an aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small" suddenly launches into "a full-hearted evensong of joy illimited."

The final stanza muses that since there was no apparent cause for such an ecstatic outburst, the bird's singing must have been inspired by "some blessed Hope, whereof he knew and I was unaware."

This article related to a poem from the UK or its predecessor states is a stub.