"The Darkling Thrush" is a poem by the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, published at the turn of the century. In it a man leans alone upon a gate, surveying the gray, wintry countryside before him. The light is fading, a cold wind is blowing, and the barren landscape seems to mirror the dying century itself. He is completely dispirited. But suddenly he hears the strong clear notes of a thrush, singing in the brambles above him, and his spirits lift as he recognizes “Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew/And I was unaware”.