To a Skylark

“To a Skylark” is an ode with 105 lines. There are 21 stanzas, each containing five lines with the rhyme scheme ABABB.

In the first stanza, the speaker—who can be read as Shelley himself—addresses a skylark. This address is a kind of apostrophe: The speaker hails an animal that cannot reply and probably does not see him. Furthermore, he addresses the “blithe Spirit” (Line 1), or indifferent spirit, of the skylark, rather than just a “Bird” (Line 2). The spirit is “from Heaven” (Line 3), or nearby. In other words, the skylark is a representation of the divine in nature—a central theme of the poem. The speaker focuses on the skylark’s song, which is both “unpremeditated” (Line 5), or spontaneous, and from the “heart” (Line 4). These qualities are also important in the work of the poet, which is another theme of the poem.

In the second stanza, the speaker connects the skylark’s flight with its song. The skylark rises from “the earth” (Line 7), ascending higher “and higher” (Line 6). In the first of many similes, this ascent is compared to fire moving upwards. Against the backdrop of the blue sky, the skylark is described as “singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest [sic]” (Line 10). Here, “sing” and “soar” switch places after the comma. This is an example of antimetabole, which is an inversion of the words in a phrase. This literary device illustrates how the bird’s music and flight are interchangeable and interconnected.

The third stanza focuses on the sky where the skylark flies and sings. Sunset is evoked with the adjective “golden” (Line 11), referencing the golden hour, and the image of a sun below the horizon. The sun’s rays light up the “clouds” (Line 13), which recalls the “cloud of fire” (Line 8) from the previous stanza. Clouds are a central symbol of the poem. Among the clouds, the skylark flies, or “run[s]” (Line 14), and the joyful flight is compared to the beginning of a “race” (Line 15) in another simile.

In the fourth stanza, the idea of sunset is continued as the color scheme changes from golden to “pale purple” (Line 16). After this description of the sky’s changing colors, the speaker uses another simile to compare the skylark to a star at a different time of day: “In the broad daylight” (Line 19). Stars exist in the middle of the day even though they cannot be seen. The skylark is similarly “unseen” (Line 20), but the speaker can hear its song of “delight” (Line 20). This adds to the notion of the skylark’s unseen spirit from Stanza One.

The fifth stanza continues the star imagery. The speaker describes “arrows” (Line 21) in the “silver sphere” (Line 22) of the night sky. These arrows reference the sagitta constellation, which is also called the arrow constellation. The light, or “lamp” (Line 23) of this constellation dims, or “narrows” (Line 23) as the “dawn” (Line 24) approaches. This mirrors the setting sun previously described, in that both sunset and sunrise are liminal times (times of change). In other words, the sunrise slowly leads to “broad daylight” (Line 19). The constellations can “hardly” (Line 25) be seen as the sun is rising and by the time it fully rises, the sky-watcher must “feel” (Line 25) instead of “see” (Line 25) the stars.

In the sixth stanza, the speaker describes the piercing volume of the skylark’s song. It fills “All the earth and air” (Line 26). This idea is developed with a simile comparing the song’s volume with moonbeams filling a mostly “bare” (Line 28) night. One cloud hides the moon, but its beams cover “Heaven” (Line 30) with a flood of light. The simile in this stanza uses “as” (Line 28), contrasting with Shelley’s use of “like” in most other similes in the poem.

The seventh stanza highlights the use of comparisons to define the skylark. The speaker says what “thou are” (Line 31); “thou” is an archaic second-person pronoun referring to the skylark. The plural first-person pronoun “we” (Line 31) that does not know what the skylark is refers to humans, or humanity as a whole. To try to render a definition for the skylark, the speaker asks, “What is most like thee?” (Line 32)—“thee” is another archaic second-person pronoun. This question begins a list of comparisons—or similes—spanning several stanzas.

The list of comparisons begins in the seventh stanza. The speaker starts by comparing the skylark to “rainbow clouds” (Line 33). However, the “drops” (Line 34) from those clouds are not as “bright” (Line 34) as the skylark’s song.

The eighth stanza—and the following three stanzas—begins with the word “Like” (Line 36). This is a device called anaphora. The speaker compares the skylark to a poet in Stanza Eight. Both the “Poet” (Line 36) and the skylark are described as “Singing” (Line 38). These songs cause “the world” (Line 39) to be “wrought” (Line 39)—crafted or shaped—into having “sympathy” (Line 40). Through song, the world learns to sympathize with “hopes and fears” (Line 40) that it previously did not consider.

In the ninth stanza, the speaker compares the skylark to a “high-born maiden” (Line 41), or a young aristocratic lady. The description of the maiden is developed with her location in a “palace-tower” (Line 42), which alludes to princesses and damsels from Arthurian romance. The maiden soothes her “love-laden / Soul” (Lines 43-44) with “music” (Line 45), meaning that she probably sings. This stanza contains a second simile where the music’s sweetness is compared to the sweetness of “love” (Line 45). Her song fills the air outside of her tower, like the skylark’s song filling the air in Stanza Six.

In the tenth stanza, the speaker compares the skylark to a “glow-worm” (Line 46). It is in a “dell” (Line 47), or valley. There, its “golden” (Line 46) and “aëreal hue” (Line 49), or aerial/ethereal hue, is hidden by the plant life in the valley, such as flowers and grass. The glow-worm’s light is also refracted by the “dew” (Line 47) on the plants.

In the eleventh stanza, the speaker compares the skylark to a rose. The rose’s petals are hidden within “its own green leaves” (Line 52). The dew scattering the light of the glow-worm is echoed in the “warm winds deflower[ing]” (Line 53) the scent of the rose. These winds diffuse the rose’s “sweet” scent until it is “faint” (Line 55).

Unlike Stanzas Eight through Eleven, the twelfth stanza does not begin with the word “like.” The speaker describes nature’s beauty, zooming in on “vernal” (Line 56), or spring, rain falling on the “twinkling grass” (Line 57) and the flowers. Then, he pulls back to encompass everything in nature that is “Joyous, and clear, and fresh” (Line 60). All of this is surpassed by the “music” (Line 60) of the skylark.

In the thirteenth stanza, the speaker asks the skylark, whether it be “Sprite or Bird” (Line 61), to teach “us” (Line 61). Again, the plural first-person “us” refers to humanity. Human praise for “love or wine” (Line 64) does not compare to the skylark’s song. The speaker seeks to know what “thoughts” (Line 62) inspire the skylark’s “rapture” (Line 65). The quest for joy is at the heart of the poem.

In the fourteenth stanza, the speaker compares other types of music with the skylark’s song. A “Chorus Hymeneal” (Line 66)—wedding music—and a “triumphal chant” (Line 67)—a victory song—fall short of the skylark’s song. The music created by humans is missing something, or feels “empty” (Line 69).

In the fifteenth stanza, the speaker asks questions about the skylark’s musical inspiration. Are there “objects” (Line 71) that inspire the joyous music? Are there natural elements, such as “waves” or “mountains” (Line 73), that inspire the skylark? Is it the “sky” (Line 74) or the earth that which inspires the skylark? Do feelings of comradery amongst birds, or the skylark’s “own kind” (Line 75), inspire its music? Is it a lack of “pain” (Line 75) that makes the skylark’s music so joyful?

The sixteenth stanza returns to statements rather than questions. The speaker asserts that the skylark’s “keen joyance” (Line 76), or highly developed sense of joy, is not accompanied by “Langour [sic]” (Line 77), or weariness. The skylark is also not accompanied by, or “near” (Line 79), any measure of “annoyance” (Line 78). While the skylark loves, it has not experienced “love’s sad satiety” (Line 80): having more love than desired.

In the seventeenth stanza, the speaker asserts that what the skylark considers surpasses what humans consider. Whether the skylark is awake or asleep, it is “of death” (Line 82), or haunted in some way, and “deem[s]” (Line 82)—or considers—things that are “true and deep” (Line 83). These things are truer and deeper than the things humans “dream” (Line 84). The skylark, as a part of nature that includes death, has access to truths of which humans cannot even dream. It is this access to truth and depth that makes the skylark’s song flowing and beautiful.

The eighteenth stanza focuses on the human experience of life and how it affects the art humans create. The plural first-person, “We” (Line 86) are incapable of living in the moment as humans “look before and after” (Line 86). Also, humans “pine for what is not” (Line 87). This could be described as golden age thinking when looking “before” (Line 86), or in the past, for an ideal world. Unlike the skylark, humans experience pain alongside happiness, or “laughter” (Line 88). Sadness inspires the “sweetest songs” (90): the most beautiful music. This develops the theme about the role of the poet, or artist.

In the nineteenth stanza, the speaker considers an alternative way of life for humans. This life is defined by human “scorn” (Line 91) for negative emotions like hate, pride, and fear. Additionally, this life is without pain, or “tear[s]” (Line 94). However, this life does not “come near” (Line 95) the “joy” (Line 95) the skylark experiences.

The twentieth stanza contains a list of things to which the skylark’s song is superior. Lists, when used as poetic devices, are also called catalogues. The catalogue includes music made by people, such as sheet music that can be read in “measures” (Line 96), and human writing, or “treasures” (Line 98) read in “books” (Line 99). The “poet” (Line 100) must see the skylark’s musical “skill” (Line 100) as superior to these. This develops the theme of the poet’s role.

In the twenty-first and final stanza, the speaker asks the skylark to be his teacher. He wants the skylark to “Teach” (Line 101) him even a small portion of the happiness it experiences. This knowledge will bring more harmony and “madness” (Line 103) to the speaker’s “lips” (Line 104)—lips refer to song, or spoken poetry. This quality of music will equip the speaker with the ability to make the world “listen” (Line 105), just as he listens to the skylark.