What shapes of sky or plain? What love of thine own kind? The bird is not said to know of nothing other than a definitive truth about the world that allows it to be happy.
Although the skylark is happy, the narrator is no because he does not understand why the bird is happy or how the bird can sing without limits. Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, though scorner of the ground! Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow, The world would listen then, as I am listening now.
In these he breathed his entire soul. In the last-mentioned piece, suggested while listening to the lark carolling in the Italian heavens, he cannot find words enough to exhaust his passionate admiration; he cannot collect together images enough with which to compare the glad melodies of this spirit in the sky; nothing is to him so tender or ardent, nothing so sweet and joyous, nothing in sound that so fills the ear and soul, as the spontaneous song of this bird, that singing soars, and soaring sings.
The latter, indeed, contains many passages… which we are bold enough to say are utterly unmeaning. They are also peculiar to Shelley.
Of this last nothing need be said. Artistically and poetically it is unique, has a place of its own in poetry; yet may I be allowed to express a misgiving, which I have long felt, and others too may feel? They are indeed closely linked with the great lyrical drama of The reader merely learns what the singing skylark brings to Shelley's mind in the way of similes.
The birdsong is like a poet composing, a maiden making music, a glowworm scattering light, and a rose diffusing its perfume. The similes have in common the fact that all four are, like the now unseen skylark, out of sight or not easily seen. The second line of thought is central to the poem. What, Shelley asks, is the secret that accounts for the skylark's happiness, manifested in its song?
What objects are the fountains Of thy happy strain? What fields, or waves, or mountains? What shapes of sky or plain? What love of thine own kind? These questions lead him to an analysis of the human condition.
Man knows pain, experiences weariness, annoyance, and love's satiety. He is plagued by hate and pride and fear. He cannot escape his past, thoughts of the future cause him worry, he longs for what does not exist, and his laughter is mixed with sorrow. He dreads death. Shelley, in personifying the skylark, has created a myth, just as in "Ode to the West Wind" and "The Cloud.
The skylark is happy because it knows only what makes it happy. Songs and lyric poems sung as the bride went to the groom's house. When words close together in lines begin with the same consonant. This brings texture and phonetic interest. As in:. Soul in secret Never came near These are breaks or pauses in a line either made by punctuation or naturally after.
By creating a break the poet reflects the birds song or flight pattern. When a line runs on into the next without punctuation, so the reader has to 'flow' on and try not to pause too long. This has the effect of building momentum and keeping the sense. Shelley uses it to great effect in this poem, creating a rough pattern of enjambed lines:. This pattern clearly shows Shelley using the third and fourth lines in combination more than the first and second.
It could be that he wanted to build up momentum, as the lark got ever higher, until the 5th line, the longest, became the climax. Like a cloud of fire Like an unbodied joy Like a star of Heaven Like a Poet hidden Like a high-born maiden Like a glowworm golden Like a rose embowered Marine Biology. Electrical Engineering. Computer Science. Medical Science. Writing Tutorials. Performing Arts. Visual Arts. Student Life. Vocational Training.
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