Critical Appreciation of the poem "The Darkling Thrush"

      "The Darkling Thrush" at first appears to be a nature poem of indefinable beauty. Here we come across the lurid scene of December evening. The air is drawing to a close. It is really a cold and frosty evening. The poet uses a frost metaphor in order to present a scene of desolation and dreariness. It's a twilight time. The sun is setting. The whole landscape is enveloped in deep darkness.

        The mood of the poet is gloomy and glum. Every spirit on earth seems cheerless. The poet seems to share the general mood of desolation. He looks dejected and depressed against the backdrop of such a cheerless landscape. He hears the joyful song of a thrush pouring out its music in full throated glee. The poet's heart overflows with a feeling of hope. He thinks that the thrush seems to sing a song of hope for the world torn and tormented  by hopelessness and despair. The songbird by singing a joyful song heralds a sense of hope for the hopeless world.