Form

Composed in four octet, or eight-line, stanzas, with an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme, "The Darkling Thrush" is written in iambic tetrameter, with lines one, three, five, and seven carrying four stressed syllables, and lines two, four, six, and eight carrying three stressed syllables. In poetry, a foot refers to a group of syllables, one of which is accented. An iambic foot, the most popular in English verse, consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. The restrictions of these conventional features are at odds with the tone of despair and portrayal of meaninglessness in the poem, creating a tension that gives the poem energy and emotional depth.

Diction

Diction refers to an author's word choice. Hardy is known for his innovative use of the English language, and he frequently coined new words in his poetry. He called words created for a single occasion "nonce words," and in...