The Caged Thrush Freed and Home Again (Villanelle)

Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)



"Men know but little more than we,
Who count us least of things terrene,
How happy days are made to be!

"Of such strange tidings what think ye,
O birds in brown that peck and preen?
Men know but little more than we!

"When I was borne from yonder tree
In bonds to them, I hoped to glean
How happy days are made to be,

"And want and wailing turned to glee;
Alas, despite their mighty mien
Men know but little more than we!

"They cannot change the Frost's decree,
They cannot keep the skies serene;
How happy days are made to be

"Eludes great Man's sagacity
No less than ours, O tribes in treen!
Men know but little more than we
How happy days are made to be."

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

39 sec read
106

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbA abA abA abA abA xbAA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 665
Words 132
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy, was not a Scottish Minister, not a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland nor a Professor of Eccesiastical History at Edinburgh University. more…

All Thomas Hardy poems | Thomas Hardy Books

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