Compare the attitude of the speaker in Hardy's poem towards the new century with your own attitude towards the beginning of the twentyfirst century. What similarities and differences do you see? Discuss this as a class.

In groups, compose a poster based on Hardy's poem. You will have to decide what to put in and what to leave out from what he describes. Feel free to use abstractions in your depiction. Hang the poster on the wall, and then discuss with your class the choices you made in composing it.

Write a short essay exploring the influence of romanticism on Hardy, who was a Victorian poet. How are his poems about nature different from John Keat's, William Wordsworth's, or Percy Bysshe Shelley's?

Compose a short essay comparing and contrasting Hardy's poem with Keats's "Ode to a Nightengale" and Emily Dickinson's "Hope Is...