Percy Bysshe Shelley
2015/4/10
1
To a Skylark
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This poem is written in 21 five-line stanzas designed in a metrical
pattern of four trimeter lines with a final alexandrine and a rhyme
scheme ababb. This kind of uneven lines show the “madness” of the
skylark and the regular rhyme pattern and the perfect structure of the
poem show the harmony of the skylark's song, so the form of the whole
poem shows the harmonious madness of the skylark.
2015/4/10
2
To a Skylark

In this poem, Shelley again unites in poetic form ideas of real and spiritual
things. The skylark is an actual bird, one he has seen and heard and at the
same time, one that functions as a symbol of an un(im)bodied joy, the platonic
idea or essence of joy. It is a prophet of other-worldly things and an inspiration
to the poet-prophet. Through it the poet praises the strange unknown pleasure
and shows his love of the ethereal lark, free from human failing and human
pain, and expresses his desire to get perfect joy which is beyond human
conception.
2015/4/10
3
To a Skylark
2015/4/10
4