On the basis of your reading choose the most appropriate option.

What is the setting of the poem?

Natural and manmade catastrophes trigger chaos and destruction. Share your thoughts about each of the scenes given here.

Hardy's best known bird poem was written on December 31, 1900, but its acknowledgment of defiant hope, or even optimism, still holds good.

How is the third stanza a contrast to the previous stanza?

Answer the following briefly.

Why doesn't the speaker feel joyous while the bird could see the good things ahead?