To a Skylark - Percy Bysshe Shelley

P. B. Shelly was a rebel and a reformer. He protested against tyranny and oppression. He wanted to eradicate evils in society, reform and rebuild it. The spirit of rebellion and reform are reflected in his writings. In his poetry, imaginative artistic realization of a high ideal is presented. In ‘To A Skylark’, the skylark and its song serves a symbol for his ideal and vision.

The poem begins with an ecstatic joyous greeting to the skylark. It is addressed as ‘blithe spirit’. The lines bird… emphasizes the spiritual mystical, joyous nature of the bird and its song. According to the poet, the bird is not an ordinary bird, but a celestial divine spirit. The bird must belong to heaven or a higher region close to heaven, it belongs to a world that transcends human experience and thus is a divine creature dwelling in the Higher Realms of Truth. The skylark pours forth its heart in abundant intense notes and songs of ‘unpremeditated art’. This emphasizes the ecstasy, the instinctive, spontaneous natural skill of the bird which can be a greater source of divine inspiration than an acquired human art.

As the bird soars higher and higher the song seems to soar higher. As he listens to the song the poet soars and elevates with the song of the bird. It fills him with ecstasy, the bird seems to spring from earth like a cloud of fire. This emphasizes the radiant brightness of the song. The reddish glow of sunset infuses the bird and its flight. The light and energy of the bird represents the visionary insight and revolutionary fire necessary for poetic composition. The bird in its flight flies across the deep blue sea, the deep blue sea reflects the blue sky above. Therefore the bird and the song cannot be separated. The song and the singer become one in the ecstasy of the song.

Shelley speaks of the setting sun enclosing the bird in a golden aura and glow, and above the bird the clouds brighten. The entire picture presents a sensuous, visual and auditary image of beauty and lyricism. The bird in its ethereal brightness seems to be floating across the sky like an ‘unbodied joy’ whose race and journey has just begun.

The poet continues to present the flight and the nature of the bird. As the bird flies the purple seem to melt and dissolve around the course of its flight. The purple colour emphasizes the grandeur and the splendor of the evening scene. With the setting sun and the bird like the ‘star of heaven’ in broad daylight, which despite its presence in the sky can’t be seen. He then uses the image of the moon which is like the star of heaven remains invisible in the light of the sun. The ‘Silver Sphere’ is used as a metaphor to describe the moon. When the clear dawn approaches the light of the moon intensifies and narrows though the moon cannot be seen.

When the night sky is cloudless, except for one lonely cloud from which the moon rains out her light and the entire sky and heaven overflow with the light of the moon. The song of the bird fills the entire earth and heaven as the moon rains out its beams.

The poet clearly states that with his limited knowledge he cannot understand the nature of the bird. In this pursuit, he tries to understand the meaning of the song of the bird through familiar human experiences. The images he uses are that of the beautiful cloud, a glow and lit by the rainbow and describes the bright radiant drops of rain that flow out from the magnificent rainbow clouds, but the rain of melody that flows out from the presence of the skylark is far brighter than the raindrops.

He uses the image of the inspired poet during poetic composition, full of the light of inspiration to describe the song of the bird. The skylark is compared to the poet singing his hymns spontaneously, instinctively under the force of the divine inspiration unbidden by sympathy, hopes and fear. The divine spiritual ecstasy of the poet thus matches the divine ecstasy of the Skylark’s song. The world listening to the inspired divine songs of the poet are influenced and moved to sympathy and understanding.
He uses the image of a high born lady, sitting in seclusion and solitude in a palace tower, Soothes and comforts her soul with music as delightful as the love that fills her heart. The ecstasy of the song can evoke ecstasy in the heart of the listener. He compares the maiden’s song to the song of the skylark.
He compares the skylark to a glow worm in a valley of dew, scattering and spreading its aerial divine light, though the glow worm remains invisible. The light is spread among the flowers, the grasses which are illuminated by the glow worm, which at the same time screens it. The skylark like the glow worm remains invisible.
The image of a blossomed rose deflowered spreading its fragrance is perhaps the most sensuous and lyrical of those used in the poem. The image of the bower reappears. The green bower formed by green leaves in whose midst the beautiful rose can be seen nestling. The fragrance of the rose is poetically described as being stolen by heavy winged thieves, intoxicated with heavy fragrance of the rose almost feel faint. The thieves could be bees sucking nectar from the rose. The thieves could also be the warm winds which as they deflower the rose steal its fragrance and waft it in the atmosphere and air.
He then uses the image of ‘Vernal Showers’, i.e. showers of spring. The gentle pattering sound of the rain drops coming down on the grass is compared to the song of skylark. The grass is adorned with the twinkling drops of rain. The spirit of the spring with its freshness, vitality, beauty, color, light and joy represents the joy of the skylark’s song. In fact, he says that the song of the bird surpasses and excels the joy, freshness and beauty of all that is known for beauty and joy in human life.
The poet makes a fervalent appeal to the bird to teach him and the mankind, the sweet thoughts that must be behind its ecstatic song. Again he addresses the bird as a spirit. The poet reflects upon feelings and emotions of love or the intoxication of wine which inspire man to a passionate out pouring, These human songs can’t match the flood of rapture, panted forth by the bird.
The poet then mentions other songs of human joy and celebration like ‘triumphal chant’ or ‘chorus hymeanal’, but any such human song matched with the skylark’s song of joy and ecstasy would just be an empty, superficial song. The human songs, however joyous they may be, we can feel some ‘hidden want’, while the bird’s song is one of the perfect joy which is known only to the bird.
The objects he mentions with power to provide inspiration, we find different forms of manifestations of the beauty of nature like fields, waves, mountains, sky or plain. In the human world its only nature in her diverse forms who can provide such divine inspiration. But for the bird, he wonders whether the same forms of nature are the fountains of its happy song..
Further reflecting the perfect joy of the bird Shelley says that ‘with its keen joyance, Languor cannot be’, ‘Shadow of annoyance’, anger or anxiety never came near the bird. While describing the world of the skylark with its state of perfection Shelley also presents an implicitly contrasting picture of the human world and human existence. In human experience joy is always tainted by languor, lack of vitality and life.
Further the poet says that the bird possesses whether in a state of sleep or awakening, a deeper knowledge into the nature of death and the Truth of death that mortal human beings with their limited knowledge fail to understand.
The contrasting picture of human world with that of the birds is presented. Shelley speaks of how human beings constantly look before to the past longing for something, look ahead to the future in anticipation of joy . Mortal human beings in their weakness pine for what is not, in the present moment. He then speaks of the impossibility of pure unalloyed joy. Man’s sincerest laughter is fraught with pain and suffering scorn contempt for others human pride apprehensions which haunt the spirit of man make the human world an imperfect one. If we were things born not to shed a tear man can never come anywhere near perfect joy of the bird.
The last stanza is the emphatic declaration of his faith in the power of the poet and poetry to transform the world. .Harmonious madness refers to poetic frenzy full of harmony without which no poetic composition is possible this is no ordinary madness but the creative frenzy of the poet under divine inspiration ‘The world should listen then ,as I am listening now’. The poet is seen as visionary a prophet and a revolutionary.