In this poem Arnold remembers the happy times he spent with his friend Clough in the Oxford countryside Now that his friend is gone he feels lonely and sad He says Yes thou art gone and round me too the night In ever-nearing circle These lines show that the poet feels darkness around him The darkness is coming closer as time passes This means the poet is in deep sorrow after losing his friend Nature and Memories Arnold uses many natural images like trees hills flowers fields and the River Thames These are not just decorations They bring back memories of the past He remembers how he and Clough enjoyed the peaceful countryside together But now everything has changed He writes Where are the mowers They all are gone and thou art gone as well These lines show how nature itself reminds the poet of the loss of his friend Praise of the Dead Friend In an elegy the poet praises the person who died Arnold does this by comparing Clough to the Scholar Gipsy The Scholar Gipsy is a symbol of someone who searches for truth and leaves the world behind He says Clough was also a seeker of light and purity even though the world did not understand him He searched for something higher and beautiful away from the noise of the world Change and Sadness Another theme in Thyrsis is the feeling of change The poet feels that both the world and he himself are no longer the same He does not visit the countryside often anymore His heart has grown tired Life feels heavy and disconnected from the joys of youth He says Too rare too rare grow now my visits here This line shows how Arnold feels separated from his past his friend and even from himself Life in the modern world feels cold and restless Ending with Hope Like many elegies Thyrsis ends with a soft note of hope Though Clough is dead Arnold sees the elm tree on the hill which they both loved He imagines that Clough is saying Our tree yet crowns the hill The tree becomes a symbol that their dreams are still alive Arnold also imagines his friend is whispering to him to move on For these reasons Thyrsis is a perfect example of an elegy It has all the parts of a classical elegy mourning nature imagery sadness praise and finally a message of hope Through this poem Arnold not only remembers his friend Clough but also shares his own pain