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<DIV><FONT face=geneva,arial,sans-serif><FONT size=2>Ted asks apropos of Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush":<BR><FONT lang=0 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=geneva,arial,sans-serif size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">"I read this poem once, twice and again and again. It is most hopeful, it seems to me! Were you being ironic? It is hopeful for the inspiration that a single tiny living being living a wild life can inspire in the heart of one human being."</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=geneva,arial,sans-serif size=2>I wasn't being ironic at all . . . in my reading, the poet expresses a despair which is not mitigated by the song of the thrush, but rather made more intense. The bird *seems* to know something, but doesn't communicate that knowledge to the poet--the joyful song simply makes him more intensely aware of his own lack. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=geneva,arial,sans-serif size=2>But then, I'm a pessimist.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=geneva,arial,sans-serif size=2>Melynda Huskey </FONT></DIV>
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