How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line)
Quote #1
When Frost was spectre-gray, (2)
Man's like a ghost. Frost's like a ghost. Frankly, it's hard to tell the humans from the rest of the background in this poem. Which is part of the point. After all, when everything's death-bound, why make distinctions?
Quote #2
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day. (3-4)
We've said it before and we'll say it again: nature takes on human characteristics. Heck, day has an "eye." That doesn't stop it from dying, though…which is odd, because nature doesn't actually die, does it? Hmm…
Quote #3
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres, (5-6)
Check out all of the alliteration in these lines. Not only is it an elaborate metaphor (vine = lyre), but it's chock-full of harsh-sounding "k"s and guttural "g"s – which makes the line sound as clogged on your tongue as the tangled vines are supposed to look in your mind. Aw, Hardy, you're so good!
Quote #4
The land's sharp features seemed to be
The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament. (9-12)
The whole world seems to be participating in the end of the century. It's sort of like how you see rainbows and happiness (or death and destruction) everywhere you turn….it just depends on what you're looking for. And our speaker wants to see death. In a big way.
Quote #5
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume, (21-22)
Note how there aren't any metaphors used to describe this bird. It's a huge shift from Hardy's earlier strategies – maybe because the bird actually is alive. It doesn't need elaborate turns of phrase to make it seem alive.