Page 63 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“To a Skylark”
by Percy Bysshe Shelley, pages 37-40

Vocabulary
blithe – happy, carefree
profuse – plentiful
unpremeditated – spontaneous
unbidden – not invited
aëreal – area
languor – laziness

1. Why does the skylark exceed the capacity of human language to describe its qualities or the
qualities of its song?

The speaker believes the bird to be not a bird at all, but a being from heaven, one that pours its
entire heart into every song it sings. The skylark exceeds human language because it inspires it.

2. What is the poem’s meter and rhyme scheme? What does the meter of the fifth lines of each stanza
typify?

The poem is written in cinquains (five-line stanzas), with the rhyme scheme of A/B/A/B/B. The first
four lines are written in trochaic trimester, while the fifth line is written in iambic hexameter. The
fifth line is also called an Alexandrine.

3. What prevents the speaker (and us) from singing as the skylark does?

The skylark’s song comes from natural excitement and creativity. It sings without thought of hopes
or fears because it sings purely. The speaker (and we) cannot sing as such because we are impure.

4. Four stanzas of this poem begin with the word “Like.” To what does the speaker choose to compare
the skylark?

The skylark is compared to a poet deep in thought, to a maiden in a palace tower, to a glow-worm
in the dark of night, and to a rose embowered in it own leaves.

5. Stanzas eighteen, nineteen, and twenty shift focus from the skylark to human weakness. In your
own words, describe the human weaknesses the speaker addresses.

Answers may vary. Example: The human weaknesses the speaker addresses include: humans’ need
to reflect on the past and worry about the future; to wish for what is not; to laugh even when we
feel some pain; to feel and express hate, fear, and pride; and to feel sadness and pain.

6. At the poem's end, does the speaker seem confident that his words can have the same effect on
future readers as the bird's pure song has upon him? Why or why not?

Answers may vary. Example: The speaker does not seem confident that his words can achieve the
power and resonance that the skylark’s song does. The speaker asks the skylark to teach him the
thoughts that inspire such beautiful singing.

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