this was given by our professor Dr.Maninder Sudiir

1. P.B.Shelley
By Dr. Maninder Sudhiir

2.  ode noun ˈōd— od·ist noun
a poem in which a person expresses a strong
feeling of love or respect for someone or something
Ceremonious lyric poem on an occasion of dignity in
which personal emotion and universal themes are
united
 The form is usually marked by exalted feeling and style,
varying line length, and complex stanza forms
 The term ode derives from a Greek word alluding to a choric
song, usually accompanied by a dance

3.  Long poem : 21 stanzas of 5 lines each
 Total of 105 lines
 Meter is ababb
 Published in 1820
 PB Shelley was one of the major English Romantic
poets, and is regarded by some critics as amongst the
finest lyric poets in the English language
 He was born in 1792 died in 1822 - He drowned in a
sudden storm while sailing in Italy - At the age of 30
Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the epic poets of the 19th
century, and is best known for his classic anthology verse
works such as Ode to the West Wind and The Masque
of Anarchy. He is also well known for his long-form
poetry.

4.  The love of the poet :
 Bird’s song
 The way it soars up in the purple sky at the dusk
Compares the bird to a number of things:
 A rose, a star, the planet Venus, a poet, a maiden, a
glowing worm etc.
 All human songs are sad- the bird’s song is pure joy
 He dreams of singing with as much joy and freedom as
the bird – the skylark

5. Title/ Plot
 "To a Skylark" doesn't exactly have a plot
 It is more like a bunch of observations about a single
idea—a stretched-out description of the song of a bird.
The poem opens up with the speaker calling out to a bird
(which he calls a "Spirit"). He tells the bird how much he
loves its singing. Then he describes how it shoots up into
the sky at dusk, into the purple evening
After that, he compares the bird's song to a bunch of
different things:
 a star
 the planet Venus
 a poet
 a maiden
 a worm
 a rose

6.  Then he starts to talk about how all of the beautiful
things that human beings make can't compare to the
song of this bird
 All human songs are sad, but this bird's song is just
pure joy
 Finally the speaker dreams of being able to sing with
as much joy and freedom as this happy bird

7.  The opening is a joyful shout by the poet- calls out to
the bird without expecting a reply
 This is called an ‘apostrophe’-- apostrophe used in
literature is an arrangement of words addressing a
non-existent person or an abstract idea in such a way
as if it were present and capable of understanding
feelings –
 Blithe : is an old fashioned term that means carefree, happy
and light hearted
 Wert : be ( means you are not a bird – you are a spirit

8.  writers try to bring abstract ideas or non-existent
persons to life so that the nature of emotions they
want to communicate gets across in a better way –
because it is more convenient for the readers to
relate themselves to the abstract emotions when
they observe them in their natural surroundings
 In addition, the use of apostrophe motivates the
readers to develop a perspective that is fresh as well
as creative

9.  Shelley refers to the bird as a spirit—it is chirpy, pretty
little bird, connected to the spirit world– and to all that
is beautiful and heaven like – also that it is immortal-
 It is one special supernatural bird
 Sings out – from its heart --- says that the song is
beautiful
 The word Heaven – the letter ‘H ’suggests that there is
something holy about the bird
 The birds song fills the persona with delight that as per
him are beyond words and inspires him
 Nothing is better than the song but it is Mysterical:

10.  Raising the bird to the heights and bringing out that
there is nothing higher than the bird
 Its song rains down from the heaven to the earth
and there is no impediment (Something that
impedes; a hindrance or obstruction)
 It is not just a song but an expression of emotions ---
- sort of a personification – expression of emotions-
feelings like a person

11.  Profuse -Plentiful; copious, giving or given freely and
abundantly; extravagant
 Strains: pieces of music; passages of melody
 Unpremeditated: Not planned or thought out in
advance; not planned beforehand; spontaneous

12.  The poet goes on to say that the bird sings a lot of
improvised (To invent, compose, or perform with little
or no preparation)- unpremeditated
 To play or sing (music) extemporaneously, especially by
inventing variations on a melody or creating new
melodies in accordance with a set progression of
chords) songs
 Both of them are making art
both : the bird and
the poet

13.  It rises from the Earth towards the Heaven and keeps
moving higher and higher
 In the third line he uses a simile to describe the bird-
which is a spirit comparing it to a cloud of fire
 In the next line he speaks about the blue deep--- one
wonders if he is speaking about the sea but no here he
refers to the blue sky
 The poet says that it is flying higher and higher and all
the while it is singing the song
 Captures the joy and freedom of the bird- singing and
soaring and soaring and singing

14.  Imagery:
 Golden Lightning: refers to sunset - makes us think of the
crackling lighting
Sunken sun – it is sunset and the golden light is coming from there
-a beautiful sunset lightning up the sky
Alliteration: Sunken Sun
 He talks about the beauty and brightness of the sky and how the
sun when it sets can fall below the clouds and brightens them
from below and the sky looks beautiful – stirs our emotions and in
such a surrounding the skylark can be heard singing a melodious
song in its flight

15.  The fourth line the poet speaks about the freedom
and pleasure of movement without an effort --- its
flight is like floating pure and easy
 The poet again refers to Skylark as “unbodied joy”- a
spirit- which is full of energy and freshness- full of
possibilities and new beginning

16.  ‘Even’ here means evening
 Here the poet is saying that the way the Skylark flies in the
sky one feels even the evening that has turned purple
melts around it- emphasis on how beautiful the bird is
 Pale purple – alliteration
 Simile - like a star , that may be present even during the
day --- but it is invisible
 The poet refers to not what we see but what we hear and
imagine
 A negative word is used to describe something that is
beautiful --- shrill delight : to emphasis on the beauty of
the song

17.  Metaphor: comparison of the sound to the arrows:
here the keen( sharp) metaphorical arrows (rays /
beams) of light that come from the silver sky
 Metaphor : beams from intense lamp;
 The silver sphere here is the Morning Star – the Venus
 Reference to the sunken sun – dusk ;
and the silver sphere – Venus , the morning star
 The bird is free and unlike a human is at liberty to do,
go where it wants – the poet is jealous of the freedom
and liberty of the bird to travel; where and when it
pleases

18.  The same way that we know that Venus is there during
the day buts it fades in the sunlight- the skylark too can
be heard but not seen due its height - as it flies high in
the sky

19.  The poet goes on to say that the voice of the
skylark is very powerful–
it can be heard both on the Earth and the sky
(the air)
 Shelley is absorbed and captivated by the
sound the song of the bird which seems to fill
up the whole world

20. He goes on to compare the song
 to the night sky and
 the moon shines its light on a single cloud that is there
– the light of the moon covers the cloud and the poet
goes on to say that the light is so bright that the
heaven too is overflowed by that light
 the same way the bird’s song is so overpowering that
the entire universe is covered by it

21.  Compares the loud voice to the single cloud in the
night sky- the moon being behind the cloud fills the
cloud and the sky with light
 And the same light overflows the Heaven with light
 Shelley uses a lot of Similes and metaphors in this
poem

22.  The song of the Skylark is so amazing, so mysterious
that we cannot find any comparison
 Compares the bird’s song with the raindrops coming
from the rainbow cloud – then goes on to say as
compared to the bird’s song they are nothing
 The rain of melody is better than the actual rain – the
main is not as bright as colorful as melodious as the
song of the skylark
 A metaphor : melody cannot / isn’t rain

23.  Compares the skylark to a poet -- in the next four
stanzas the poet is using simile comparing the skylark’s
song to:
 “the light of thought” of the ‘poet’
 “Soothing love” of the ‘maiden’ in a high tower
 Existence of a “glow worm golden”
 Aura of “ a rose”

24. The poem or the thoughts come to the poet and he
writes the same are put on the paper without
taking into consideration the consequences
Wrought:(of metals) beaten out or shaped by
hammering.
made or fashioned in the specified way.
The poetry is written without invitation and call for
the same
Here the song of the skylark is sung without having
been commanded or invited
As the poem emerges without anyone asking , out
of the pure creative spirit of the poet
Uses the word hymns: songs sung in the place of
worship comparing it with song of the skylark

25. The poet is the one that connects us to the hopes and
fears that we don’t pay heed to- it makes us
sympathize with these feelings
He further goes on to say that these feelings are there
but we don’t see them as we don’t see the stars
during the day
It is through the work of the poet that we are made
aware of these feelings
The song of the bird and the poems of the poet have
the power to call up intense new feelings, to make the
people see the world in a new and important way

26.  The poet uses poetic comparison to bring out the
beauty of the song of the skylark
 Compared to a maiden (princess) in a high tower of
her palace
 The bird is elevated – both in terms of flight (high –
born) and in a literal sense
 She(Princess) is in love and needs to be comforted
 Alliterations: love laden and soul of secret
 She is finding comfort in the music she is alone in her
room (bower)

27. She is singing to herself –again as the skylark sings to herself
and for herself
The poet here connects the skylark
 with beautiful princesses
 and sweet love songs.
Bower: shade or enclose (a place or person).

28. Stanza 10
Here the poet compares the beautiful singing sky-spirit to a
glow worm - is now like a worm -glow-worm is like the fireflies
we have the only thing is they don’t fly - notice them at night,
maybe in a damp little valley (a "dell of dew").
The speaker is fascinated with things in nature that make
beautiful songs or sights, even when they know no one is
watching (when they are "unbeholden," as he so poetically puts
it).

29.  The "aerial hue" connects the color ("hue") of the worm's
glow to the sky and the air and the world of the skylark
 Like the far-away skylark, this little worm makes wonderful
things happen—even when it can't be seen itself – it is
covered with flowers and grass and hidden from the world

30. Stanza 11
 Like a rose embower'd, In its own green leaves- another Simile
• This one compares the skylark to a hidden natural beauty
• In this case, it's a rose
The flower's loveliness is cradled and covered up by its leaves
We can't see it, but its beauty still finds a way to reach us
• the poet sets up all kinds of little sound-echoes in this poem
The use of the word "embower'd" here connects to the "bower" of the
princess just a few lines before
The winds steal away the flower's smell
That "scent" floats away from the secret beauty of the rose, and reaches
people who can't see the flower itself
Again, this is a lot like the skylark, whose beauty reaches the in the way of a
song, even when the eyes can't see him

31. here the author personifies the winds, calling them "thieves."
It's as if the rich smell of the flowers was filling the breeze,
weighing it down
 "[H]eavy-winged thieves" – the smell the very smell
that they have stolen intoxicates the winds- same is the
effect of the song on the poet
This idea that sound and smell and sight and weight are all
interconnected, and potentially overwhelming, is one of the
key points in this poem
smells can be sweet and heavy at the same time according to
the poet

32. Stanza 12
 The rains of spring ("vernal showers") make a pleasant sound
on the "twinkling grass.“
 how alive and exciting nature is in this poem –
‘the twinkling grass’
•This is another pretty nature image:
flowers waking up in the rain
•There's a little subtle personification here, since
flowers don't actually sleep
 the song of the skylark is better than all that other things in
nature
 There are plenty of joyous things in nature—glow-worms and
flowers and raindrops, etc.—but the music of the lark goes
beyond ("surpasses") it all

33. Stanza 13
This is a shift in the poem, a moment where the speaker shifts
his tone and his strategy - Just like in the first line, he talks
directly to the bird (apostrophe)
 the word "Sprite," (a fairy, a magical creature) reminds us (just
like in line 1), that the speaker isn't sure whether this bird is part
of the natural or the supernatural world
The speaker wants to know what thoughts are behind this
beautiful singing - He thinks of this bird as an artist, and he
wants to know its secrets
The speaker is looping back to comparing the singing of the bird
to poetry - in earlier paragraph too he has
compared it to poetry

34.  Praising love or wine are ancient standard subjects for poems
 In all those poems, the speaker has never heard anything so
full of joy and "rapture" as the song of the skylark.
Notice the word "flood." It seems as if the skylark's song is always
overflowing and flooding and sloshing the place.
Again, the skylark is not just killing it with this song. It is way over-
the-top killing it. It's almost as if it's a little too much for our
speaker - it has overwhelmed the poet
Rapture: a feeling of intense pleasure or joy.

35. Stanza 14
 "Hymeneal" chorus is a poem or a song for a wedding (Hymen
was the Greek god of marriage)
A triumphal chant would be written to celebrate a victory
As far as the speaker is concerned, all the human poetry – be
it a hymeneal or a triumph song - can't stand up to the
skylark's tune
In comparison, poetry would just sound like meaningless
boasting ("an empty vaunt")
Those empty boastful poems or songs would just make us feel
like something was missing (a "hidden want") compared to the
skylark's incredible melodies

36. Stanza 15
 The speaker keeps prying into the bird's secrets
 He wants to know what the source, the origins ("the
fountains") of his happy melody ("strain") might be.
This is all about trying to understand the meaning behind the
beauty of nature, to use comparisons to try to get at the truth
of the perfect art the speaker sees all around him.
 What inspires these melodies?
Is it other things in the natural world (on earth, at sea, or
in the air)?
Is the skylark singing about the world it sees?

37. maybe it's the feelings of the skylark that make it sing the way it
does - Maybe it sings because it loves another skylark (its "own
kind")
Maybe it sings with the joy of never having known what pain feels
like
There is a feeling of the sadness and longing of the speaker in
that "ignorance of pain."
He is dreaming of a world beyond pain,
a creature that can make art without any of the
suffering that humans feel – is heartbreaking – the
jealousy that a person can sing sweet songs as it is not
aware of all the pain and suffering in the world

38.  the speaker is playing out the fantasy - imagining that
the skylark can make pure art without any hint of
suffering
 When he hears the sound of that" clear" and "keen"
(sharp, poignant) joy ("joyance"), he cannot imagine
how it could ever be connected to sadness and
depression ("languor")
 In the speaker's mind, this bird is so perfectly happy
that it could never even feel the "shadow of
annoyance”

39.  The speaker imagines that the bird can feel love but
not the sad "satiety" (the feeling of being filled with
something) that comes with being full of love
 It's not really clear how he knows- came to the
conclusion that a bird is capable of love
 Basically, through this personification the skylark can
be everything the speaker dreams of, without any of
the pain
 Since it can't talk back, he can fantasize about all the
pure joy it must be feeling

40. Things take a mysterious turn:
 the speaker imagines that somewhere, in its dreams or
in its waking life, the skylark can see and understand
("deem") things about the true nature of death
 This reminds us that he thinks of the skylark as much
as an immortal spirit being as an actual natural
creature
 The skylark can see beyond even the dreams of
mortals - It understands the deep truth about death,
because it cannot die - that's the only way he can
imagine that it could make such beautiful music (like a
"crystal stream").

41.  The trouble with mortals, with humans, is that we're
always thinking about the past and the future. We wish
desperately ("pine") for the things we once had, or
can't have yet
 The speaker is going deep here, using the song of the
skylark as an opportunity to try to describe the human
condition
 According to the speaker, nothing that we feel is pure.
Nothing can escape the pain of mortality. Even when
we laugh, it is filled up, weighted ("fraught") with
sadness and pain

42.  But under all that grim sadness, there's also a kind of
beautiful truth. Sadness and beauty can't be separated
for humans
All of our singing and our poetry and our art is
connected to our mortality
 Essentially, the speaker is saying that, unlike the pure
spirit of the skylark, we are in some way always singing
about our eventual death
 All our sweetest songs are those that are filled with
pain, sadness

43.  the poet goes on to invoke us to think
 what would it be like to live without human
emotions
 What would it be like to be less human, less
mortal, and more like the pure skylark
 What if we could ignore or get rid of ("scorn")
the feelings like hate and pride and fear that
make us so unhappy
 What if we were born without any feelings of
pain or sorrow
 What if we didn't have to cry

44.  He still believes that even if there was no pain
in our lives :
 then also we couldn't ever be able to reach
the joy of the skylark – never sing a song like
it
 Maybe that's because we would still be
human
Or
 maybe it's because we need that pain,
that sorrow, in order to feel real joy

45.  The skylark's song is better than all the
human music ("measures") in the world.
 we can plan and scheme and make "delightful
sound" but we can't stack up to the skylark –
it’s song is ultimate and there is no
comparison
 Our books don't match to it either. All the
poems and ideas and novels we've stored up
are "treasures." But still:
they don't match the skylark's song

46.  The poem that the speaker's writing will
never be as good as the song he's writing
about – the song of the skylark
 A little bird can make music beyond his
description, beyond his power
 The simple song of the skylark is more
wonderful than even the best human poem
 Scorner: a person who expresses contempt by
remarks or facial expression

47.  Now that he knows he can't match up to the
skylark's pure beauty, the speaker asks the
skylark to teach him
 He wants just a piece, just half of the
happiness (the "gladness") that he figures the
bird must feel
 if he knew the bird's happiness, he would be
able to speak a kind of "harmonious
madness."
 This is a key phrase, and it's also
an oxymoron. Usually we think of harmony
and madness as being a contradiction, but
here the speaker buts both together.

48.  An oxymoron is a figure of speech that puts
together two seemingly contradictory words or
phrases that actually end up making a whole
lot of sense.
 Example:
"The jumbo shrimp she brought to the
party was terribly good."
(There were two of them in that sentence.)
 The speaker is trying to imagine a kind of
song, a kind of poem, that would push beyond
the normal human limits, that would allow him
to feel and write and sing as purely as a
skylark

49.  This is all he wants: for the world to hear him
as clearly as he hears the skylark
 He wants them to absorb his words, to be as
entranced with them as he is with the song of
the bird
 There's something sweet and sad about this
ending.
 He starts out talking to the bird, asking it
questions, and winds up almost jealous of its
beauty and its immense power, realizing that
he will never know its silent, hidden secrets