answersLogoWhite

0

Summary

The speaker, addressing a skylark, says that it is a "blithe Spirit" rather than a bird, for its song comes from Heaven, and from its full heart pours "profuse strains of unpremeditated art." The skylark flies higher and higher, "like a cloud of fire" in the blue sky, singing as it flies. In the "golden lightning" of the sun, it floats and runs, like "an unbodied joy." As the skylark flies higher and higher, the speaker loses sight of it, but is still able to hear its "shrill delight," which comes down as keenly as moonbeams in the "white dawn," which can be felt even when they are not seen. The earth and air ring with the skylark's voice, just as Heaven overflows with moonbeams when the moon shines out from behind "a lonely cloud."

The speaker says that no one knows what the skylark is, for it is unique: even "rainbow clouds" do not rain as brightly as the shower of melody that pours from the skylark. The bird is "like a poet hidden / In the light of thought," able to make the world experience "sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not." It is like a lonely maiden in a palace tower, who uses her song to soothe her lovelorn soul. It is like a golden glow-worm, scattering light among the flowers and grass in which it is hidden. It is like a rose embowered in its own green leaves, whose scent is blown by the wind until the bees are faint with "too much sweet." The skylark's song surpasses "all that ever was, / Joyous and clear and fresh," whether the rain falling on the "twinkling grass" or the flowers the rain awakens.

Calling the skylark "Sprite or Bird," the speaker asks it to tell him its "sweet thoughts," for he has never heard anyone or anything call up "a flood of rapture so divine." Compared to the skylark's, any music would seem lacking. What objects, the speaker asks, are "the fountains of thy happy strain?" Is it fields, waves, mountains, the sky, the plain, or "love of thine own kind" or "ignorance or pain"? Pain and languor, the speaker says, "never came near" the skylark: it loves, but has never known "love's sad satiety." Of death, the skylark must know "things more true and deep" than mortals could dream; otherwise, the speaker asks, "how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?"

For mortals, the experience of happiness is bound inextricably with the experience of sadness: dwelling upon memories and hopes for the future, mortal men "pine for what is not"; their laughter is "fraught" with "some pain"; their "sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." But, the speaker says, even if men could "scorn / Hate and pride and fear," and were born without the capacity to weep, he still does not know how they could ever approximate the joy expressed by the skylark. Calling the bird a "scorner of the ground," he says that its music is better than all music and all poetry. He asks the bird to teach him "half the gladness / That thy brain must know," for then he would overflow with "harmonious madness," and his song would be so beautiful that the world would listen to him, even as he is now listening to the skylark.

Form

The eccentric, songlike, five-line stanzas of "To a Skylark"--all twenty-one of them--follow the same pattern: the first four lines are metered in trochaic trimeter, the fifth in iambic hexameter (a line which can also be called an Alexandrine). The rhyme scheme of each stanza is extremely simple: ABABB.

Commentary

If the West Wind was Shelley's first convincing attempt to articulate an aesthetic philosophy through metaphors of nature, the skylark is his greatest natural metaphor for pure poetic expression, the "harmonious madness" of pure inspiration. The skylark's song issues from a state of purified existence, a Wordsworthian notion of complete unity with Heaven through nature; its song is motivated by the joy of that uncomplicated purity of being, and is unmixed with any hint of melancholy or of the bittersweet, as human joy so often is. The skylark's unimpeded song rains down upon the world, surpassing every other beauty, inspiring metaphor and making the speaker believe that the bird is not a mortal bird at all, but a "Spirit," a "sprite," a "poet hidden / In the light of thought."

In that sense, the skylark is almost an exact twin of the bird in Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale"; both represent pure expression through their songs, and like the skylark, the nightingale "wast not born for death." But while the nightingale is a bird of darkness, invisible in the shadowy forest glades, the skylark is a bird of daylight, invisible in the deep bright blue of the sky. The nightingale inspires Keats to feel "a drowsy numbness" of happiness that is also like pain, and that makes him think of death; the skylark inspires Shelley to feel a frantic, rapturous joy that has no part of pain. To Keats, human joy and sadness are inextricably linked, as he explains at length in the final stanza of the "Ode on Melancholy." But the skylark sings free of all human error and complexity, and while listening to his song, the poet feels free of those things, too.

Structurally and linguistically, this poem is almost unique among Shelley's works; its strange form of stanza, with four compact lines and one very long line, and its lilting, songlike diction ("profuse strains of unpremeditated art") work to create the effect of spontaneous poetic expression flowing musically and naturally from the poet's mind. Structurally, each stanza tends to make a single, quick point about the skylark, or to look at it in a sudden, brief new light; still, the poem does flow, and gradually advances the mini-narrative of the speaker watching the skylark flying higher and higher into the sky, and envying its untrammeled inspiration--which, if he were to capture it in words, would cause the world to listen.

User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

Who wrote the poem ode to a skylark?

It was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, published in 1820.


Can you give me a sentence with the word skylark in it?

Percy Shelley's poem,'To a Skylark', opens with the line,'Hail to thee, blithe spirit!'.


What is the theme of the poem To a Skylark?

The theme of the poem 'To a Skylark' is nature and the strong feelings it evokes in the writer. The poem was penned by Percy Bysshe Shelley.


Is To a Skylark a myth?

To a Skylark is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, although it includes some metaphoric elements that helps creating the myth of Skylark. But it is basically a poem. Myths never have artist.


What term below best describes this poem from To A Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley?

Structured poetry


By whom Shelley has been called as perfect singing god?

Shelley has been referred to as the "perfect singing god" by the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley himself in his poem "To a Skylark." In this poem, Shelley uses vivid imagery and metaphor to describe the skylark as a divine being with unparalleled singing abilities. The skylark symbolizes freedom, beauty, and inspiration in Shelley's work, highlighting the poet's admiration for the bird's transcendent qualities.


What literary device is used in to a skylark?

The poem "To a Skylark" by Percy Bysshe Shelley uses various literary devices such as imagery, simile, and alliteration. The predominant device used is symbolism, as the skylark symbolizes the idea of freedom, joy, and the transcendent power of nature.


What is the summary of to the skylark by William Wordsworth?

"To the Skylark" by William Wordsworth is a poem in which the speaker expresses admiration and awe towards the skylark for its joyful and free-spirited nature. The skylark serves as a symbol of transcendence and inspiration, prompting the speaker to reflect on the beauty of nature and the power of poetry to elevate the human spirit. Wordsworth celebrates the skylark's ability to bring joy and hope to the world through its music and presence.


What is the meaning of the 2nd stanza of to the skylark?

The second stanza of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "To a Skylark" means that even though the bird is a mere earth creature, it soars through the skies as if it owned them, no matter what else is happening. Further, it does not stop soaring for any reason but its own.


What is this quote from From morning suns and evening dews?

Philip Freneau's poem "the wild honey suckle"


Whose quotation is Beautiful songs are those which tell our saddest thoughts?

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.is a line from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ode to a Skylark.


Why is the poem Ode to a Skylark an example of a Horatian ode?

The poem "Ode to a Skylark" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is considered a Horatian ode because it celebrates the beauty and joy of the skylark's song, much like Horace's odes celebrated everyday moments and experiences. It focuses on the skylark's ability to inspire and uplift the human spirit, rather than delving into deeper philosophical or moral themes. The structure of the ode also follows the Horatian ode form, with a regular rhyme scheme and meter.