An Analysis of the Poem, The Thrush's Nest'

            The Thrust's Nest', by John Clare, is a poem describing a thrush which built her nest and laid her eggs and the birth of the little birds. The relatively simple style makes the poem available for teenagers and adults. The impersonal poem, which is descriptive and informative, presents a lovely natural picture with an optimistic and pleasant tone. Clare's purpose is to share with us his observation of a thrush's efforts to build a nest and the happy moment when new lives were given birth in the nest. And more importantly, he wants to engage us in thinking about the possible connection between the thrush's experience and the human's life, and the relation between mother and children. Essentially, the theme of the poem is to praise mother's selflessness and the greatness of childbirth. It is an enjoyable, exquisite and suggestive poem.
             The poem begins with a picture of hawthorn bush and a molehill. Now the reader is taken by Clare into his adventure. What then appears is not a figure, but a sound. Every morning the cheerful singing of a thrush makes the poet full of joy. The thrush seems to cheer for every new day. The reader may wonder what makes the thrush so happy. Then it comes to the close-up of the thrush. Everyday she toils secretly to form a nest. How can such a painstaking work be so enjoyable? In the last part, Clare reveals the reason. The nest is built for the thrush to lay her eggs, and the beautifully shining eggs finally turn to little birds.
             The Thrush's Nest' is clearly a traditional fourteen-line sonnet. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The rhythmic pattern is iambic pentameter, with every second syllable stressed in the ten syllables every line. With the strict structure, the verses are musically organized and flowingly measured.
             The poet successfully presents us such a beautiful poem not only with the musical rhyme but also with a number of language techniques. The main feature in the poem is personification.