ODE TO A SKYLARK P. B. Shelley

6.

Essay

1.       Discuss “Ode to a Skylark” a Romantic poem

2.       How does the skylark become a metaphor for poetic inspiration?

3.       The poem is a search for the ideal, the elusive and the transcendent –  Elucidate

P.B. Shelley’s Romantic poem titled “Ode to a Skylark” is addressed to a bird – skylark. The bird is famous for its sweet music as well as its flight in the deep blue sky. Most often the bird is invisible and the poet listens the sweet music which overflows the sky and the earth, as it seems to the poet. The poet is amazed at the “unpremeditated” poetic art of the bird and  imagines that it is not an ordinary bird, but a heavenly bird or heavenly spirit.

“Ode to a Skylark” is a typical Romantic poem. All romantic characteristics are blended in the poem. Every line of the poem abounds in emotional and imaginative qualities. The skylark is the central metaphor of the poem. The bird represents the great power of Nature on man’s activities. The  poet is amazed at the ‘unpremeditated poetic art of the bird’. The bird sings naturally while it flies higher and higher to the depth of the blue sky. When human poets make a lot of hard labour by re-correcting  every line hundreds of times. In spite of these repeated corrections they are far from perfection, because human beings are the victims of illness, dangers and death. Wedding songs and victory songs are the best of human made music because they give us pleasure. But even these songs are empty sounds in comparison with the  song of the skylark.

 Another important feature of the poem is the colourful imaginations and comparisons through which the  poet is praising the beauty of Nature.

 The poem is a search for the ideal, the elusive and the transcendent. We can see many transcendental elements in “Ode to a Skylark”.  Transcendental elements refer to spiritual elements. The poet treats the bird as a heavenly spirit because of its wonderful ‘unpremeditated poetic art’. The bird is self-reliant and full of self confidence because the bird is deathless and makes people happy with  its melodious music. The bird does not depend on anyone for its joy. On the other hand the bird is born to give pleasure to others with its natural skill in  music. In short the skylark is the true representative of Nature. The skylark is an ideal bird of Nature, full of self confident and self reliant like Nature.

The skylark is compared to a poet hidden, but people hear his poetic songs. Similarly the narrator listens to  the wonderful music of the bird, but the bird is invisible. The skylark is like a beautiful princess imprisoned in the palace tower and the young girl sings her love songs to  comfort herself. The song is overflowing the sky and  the earth. Another comparison is that the skylark is like a golden glow-worm among the flowers and bushes in the valley, but we feel the presence of  the glow-worm by its golden light.  Like a rose flower hidden by its own leaves, the skylark is invisible but the poet enjoys its music which overflows every where.  Shelley says that the most beautiful sight and sound of the earth are the music of the rainfall on the twinkling grass and the rain awakened flowers. But the music of the skylark surpasses all these earthly sights and sounds.

Finally the poet requests the skylark to teach the narrator and other human poets the secrets of the ‘unpremeditated poetic art’ and the great joy of the bird, so that he can also sing melodiously and the world will listen to him, as  the poet is now listening to the music of the skylark.   kjt/-20-03-2020