"To A Skylark" by P. B. Shelley: An Analysis

"To A Skylark" by P. B. Shelley: An Analysis

To A Skylark is a most remarkable poem by P. B. Shelley. P. B. Shelley is a renowned name in the history of English literature as one of the greatest Romantic poets. Romantic poets were greatly influenced by the spirit of the French Revolution (1789). Though the publication of the Lyrical Ballads in 1798 is considered generally the start of the Romantic Age, it had primarily been started in 1730 with the coming of Thomson's The Seasons. The Romantic Movement is known as the Romantic Revolt and as Romantic Revival. As it was against the intellectual and realistic approach to the literature of the Augustan writers and their adherence to bondage. It also helped to revive the lyrical and medieval trends of the Middle English period and the Elizabethan Age.

P. B. Shelley is known as a revolutionary poet. He felt tormented seeing the pathetic situation of human beings in this physical world where human life is full of suffering, anxiety, ignorance, dissatisfaction, obstacles, diseases, decay, death, etc. Shelley wanted to change this state of the human condition. He always visualized a new imaginary world - a utopia which he considered as an ideal world where there will be no sorrow, no problem, no pain. This imaginary world will be a world of only happiness, joy, and satisfaction. This will be a perfect world. Through his poetry Shelley wanted to spread his revolutionary zeal - his rebellious spirit to change the human mind to change the present world order.

To A Skylark is not a mere poem, it is Shelley's revolutionary song. In this poem, Shelley presents the skylark not as a common bird of blood and flesh, but rather as a 'blithe spirit', as an 'unbodied joy.' The skylark represents that utopia of ultimate happiness and joy. The skylark of this poem is actually Shelley's other self. The skylark's song is far superior to any other human song like the marriage song or the song of victory. The skylark is the 'scorner of the ground.'  It has no idea about love's sad satiety. Human beings are always looking for past and future, and searching for what cannot be fulfilled. Finally, Shelley urges the skylark to teach him 'half the gladness' as if he can inspire all human beings with the spirit of the skylark to create a new world of only joy and satisfaction.