Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CAGED GOLDFINCH, by THOMAS HARDY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
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.