Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CAGED GOLDFINCH by THOMAS HARDY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WITHIN A CHURCHYARD, ON A RECENT GRAVE
Last Line: NO ONE KNEW ANYTHING.
Subject(s): BIRDS; GOLDFINCHES;
WITHIN a churchyard, on a recent grave,
I saw a little cage
That jailed a goldfinch. All was silence save
Its hops from stage to stage.

There was inquiry in its wistful eye,
And once it tried to sing;
Of him or her who placed it there, and why,
No one knew anything.



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