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Cami Anderson
Mrs. Jackie Burr
English 1010
05/09/14
“The Caged Skylark” Poetic Analysis
“The Caged Skylark,” by Gerard Manley Hopkins is a symbolic poem about the life of a
caged bird.The poem expresses a bird’s longing to be free as he struggles to endure every day
trapped inside a cage. The poem is meant to be symbolic of a man being separated from his
spirit. Hopkins, who is a Jesuit Priest, wrote this poem with the intent to enlighten its readers
with his belief that one can not be truly happy until their body and spirit are united. Hopkins uses
diction, imagery, language, and symbolism to create a metaphorical story conveying the
differences between life on earth and after death in order to convince his audience of the
importance being yourself and not “separating the spirit from it’s physical body.”
Gerard Hopkins use of diction throughout “The Caged Skylark” keys into his audiences
emotions. By choosing specific and meaningful words, Hopkins creates a sense of desperation
and tragedy in his poem. He uses negative words such as “labouring” and “deadly,” which give
the poem a depressing atmosphere, further helping the audience to understand the meaning of
the poem and gain a more personal perspective of the message Hopkins is trying to
accomplish. He also includes words with positive meanings. Because a majority of the poem is
negative and dark feeling these specific words stick out to the reader. Placing words with
positive connotations such as “sweetest” and “rainbow” in a poem that is mostly negative
creates a hopeful feeling for the audience, the readers begin to see the darkness at the end of
the tunnel. These words help Hopkins create the metaphorical aspect of the poem. By using
words of hope Hopkins establishes the chance of freedom for the caged bird, alluding to the
possibility of life after death.
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Hopkins use of imagery is another literary tool that greatly affects the achievement of the
poems spiritual metaphor. Several moments throughout Hopkins poem he uses words or
phrases that appeal to the human senses. One of the most important moments in the entire
poem uses imagery. This moment is when Hopkins tells of the man and bird singing a sweet
song, he then changes the imagery by saying they “droop deadly sometimes in their cells.”
Though these phrases serve completely different purposes they both use imagery to help the
audience feel what the bird might be feeling. Hopkins also uses several descriptive words to
show imprisonment. These words include; dull cage, cells, bone-house, mean-house, and
prison. By using multiple words to describe a single aspect Hopkins constructs a specific image
for the readers. Imagery is important in helping establish the metaphor because it encourages
the reader to relate to what is happening in the story, though the poem appears to be about a
bird it is actually about human beings, which without imagery may not otherwise be known.
Another way the Hopkins enhances his poem is the way he uses language. The
language Hopkins uses is difficult to read and even more difficult to interpret. This type of
language gives the poem a “wise” tone, the poem is meant to be spiritual and the use of
challenging language makes the poem almost sound Biblical. Examples of this would be when
Hopkins says, “As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage.” This statement, though hard to
interpret, actually has a significant meaning, much like something one could read in the Bible.
Hopkins uses this difficult language as a technique to make his poem feel more creditable to his
audience -- whereas if he were to use casual language the spiritual intent of his poem might be
lost. Hopkins also includes a reference directly alluding to the Bible when he says, “...for his
bones risen.” This phrase indicates Hopkins belief of life after death and helps to summarize the
theme of his poem.
The final and possibly most important literary element Hopkins uses in his poem is the
element of symbolism. Nearly every line of “The Caged Skylark” consists of at least one symbol.
The most important symbols being the skylark himself and his cage. After analyzing the poem it
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becomes apparent that the bird, the skylark, is representative of one’s soul, and the cage is
representative of a person’s physical body. When the two are not united they feel trapped and
unhappy. Another major symbol expressed in Hopkins poem is the rainbow. This is a symbol of
hope, it gives an image of happiness on the other side, meaning after death when the body and
soul are once again united. By including symbolism the audience is able to make connections
between the story of a caged bird and the spiritual meaning Hopkins was trying to convey.
Through Hopkins use of diction, imagery, language and symbolism he is successfully
able to communicate his spiritual message that a man cannot achieve happiness until he and
his body are together. Hopkins choice of words in this poem not only connect to the audiences
emotions but also help develop the metaphor between the caged bird and human beings. The
imagery shown throughout the poem also contribute to the construction of his metaphor and
brings the audience to a more personal level. The language in the poem is another tool that
gives the poem its credibility and further helps achieve the conveyance of his spiritual message.
Finally, Hopkins use of symbolism advances the metaphor and completes the connections
between the story and the spiritual meanings found in the poem.