The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: "To a Skylark." Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Shelley: Poetical Works. Edited by Thomas Hutchinson, Oxford University Press, 1967.

Note that all parenthetical citations with in the guide refer to the lines of the poem (1-105) from which the quotations are taken.

“To a Skylark” is one of Shelley’s most celebrated poems. First published in 1820, it appeals to the esoteric majesty of nature, fixating on the skylark as an ideal representative of natural joyousness. Shelley suggests throughout the poem that the bird, fleetingly beheld, is an emissary of a divine order that the human mind can only begin to fathom. Shelley’s ode to the bird is rife with references to transcendental illumination. His verse offers an extensive reflection on the nature of mankind – its limitations and unique proclivity to despair and discord.

Shelley draws a number of different comparisons to the bird in flight – none of which seem fully adequate – such as the singular beauty of the skylark as a symbol of unbridled happiness. What Shelley grapples with throughout the poem is the nature of the ecstatic, a state that only fleetingly accords with the human condition, inhibited by quotidian anxieties and discouragements. Shelley’s writing is both forceful and lyrical. The modes of inquiry the poet offers up appeal to human intuition and emotions.