London

William Blake

William Blake analyzed the horrors and sorrows of his city as he meandered
through the streets. He was surrounded by dejected Londoners and, what he
considered, evidence that his government had too much power and too little
interest in helping those they were supposed to serve.

To endure the 1800s in England was to know the most restrictive of worlds,
where laws were broken only on penalty of death, and people followed a
specific societal protocol. It is still universal and timeless, as every society has
restrictions that it has placed on human lives.

The speaker of this poem makes it very clear that he believes the government to
have too much control and society to be too stringent.

Summary
„London‟ by William Blake is a dark and dreary poem in which the speaker
describes the difficulties of life in London through the structure of a walk.

The speaker travels to the River Thames and looks around him. He takes note of
the resigned faces of his fellow Londoners. The speaker also hears and feels the
sorrow in the streets, this is the focus of the final three stanzas. There is a true
pain in the hearts of men, women, and children. The most prominent of those
suffering in London‟s streets are the prostitutes.„London‟ ends with a fantastical
image of a carriage that shuttles love and death together around the city.

Themes

In „London,‟ Blake engages with themes of urban life, childhood, and

corruption. The latter relates to both childhood and the broader nature of life in
the city. It‟s clear from the first lines of the poem that Blake has a widely
negative view of what it‟s like to live and work in London. He is surrounded by
misery, mostly due to the way the adult world destroys the innocence of
childhood. These children are in distress throughout their lives, forced to deal
with the sins of their family members and the darkness of the urban streets. The
speaker hears pain everywhere he goes in the city, something that he knows
isn‟t necessary. The world could be happier and freer but humanity‟s darker side
has made that impossible in the city.

Structure and Form

„London‟ by William Blake is a four stanza poem that is separated into sets of
four lines, known as quatrains. These quatrains follow a rhyme scheme of
ABAB throughout. The first stanza explores the sights around the city of
London while the following three focus more on the sounds the speaker can
hear. Close readers might notice that the third stanza of the poem is actually an
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acrostic, it spells out the word “HEAR” with each first letter of the first word in
every line. Some of the lines of „London‟ make use of a metrical pattern known
as iambic tetrameter. this can be seen perfectly in the first three lines of the
poem. But, that changes in line four when the speaker is confronted with the
people. The normal walking rhythm of the first lines is interrupted, a way of
referring back to the content in „London.‟

Literary Devices

In „London,‟ William Blake makes use of several literary devices. These include
but are not limited to examples of caesura, metaphor, and enjambment. The first
of these, enjambment, is a common formal device that occurs when the poet
cuts off a line before the conclusion of a sentence or phrase. For example, the
transition between lines three and four of the first stanza as well as line four of
the second stanza and line one of the third stanza.

Caesurae are pauses in the middle of lines, either due to a break in the meter or
the use of punctuation. For example, line four of the first stanza. It reads:
“Marks of weakness, marks of woe.” Another good example is line three of the
second stanza: “In every voice: in every ban.”

Metaphors are a kind of figurative language, one that is quite common in poetry
and often helps to create great examples of imagery. There are numerous
examples to be found, especially in stanzas two and three.

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

Stanza One

I wander thro‟ each charter‟d street,

Near where the charter‟d Thames does flow.
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In the first stanza, the speaker provides the setting and tone. The setting can of
course be derived from the title, but the first stanza also reveals that the speaker
is walking down a street. He says that he “wander[s] down each chartered
street”. The term “wander” gives some insight into the speaker as well. He
appears to be not quite sure of himself, and a bit misguided, if not entirely lost.
The use of the term “chartered” also suggests that the streets he walks are
controlled and rigid. He is not walking in a free, open field, but a confined,
rigid, mapped out area. The speaker will expound upon this idea later on in
„London‟. As he walks, he notices something about the faces of the people
walking by. There seem to be the marks of weariness in them all. He describes
their faces as having “weakness” and “woe”. This sets up the tone as
melancholy. The gloom and the sadness seem to seep from the speaker‟s voice
as he describes the passersby.
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Stanza Two

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg‟d manacles I hear

While the first stanza sets up the tone of „London‟, the second stanza gives
some insight into the speaker‟s melancholy feelings toward the people he
watches pass him by. The speaker reveals that from the cry of the newborn
infant, to the cry of the full-grown man, he hears the “mind forg‟d manacles”.
This gives insight into his despairing view of mankind. The “manacles” are
shackles or some kind of chain that keeps a person imprisoned. The fact that
these chains are “mind forg‟d” reveals that they are metaphorical chains created
by the people‟s own ideas. The use of the word “ban” reveals that these
manacles are placed there by society. A ban, of course, is a restriction given by
law. The speaker‟s use of words such as “Charterd” “ban” and “manacles”
reveal his belief that society metaphorically imprisons people. Suddenly, it
becomes apparent that the thoughts, pressures, and ideals of society are under
scrutiny here.

Stanza Three

How the Chimney-sweepers cry

Every blackning Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls

In this stanza of „London‟, the speaker digs even deeper into the reasons for his
feelings toward humanity. He implies that the shackles worn by the people and
inflicted by society have some disastrous results. He begins with the Chimney
sweeper. The Chimney sweeper was one of the poorest of society. His life
expectancy was threatened because of his line of work. He was consistently
dirty and sick. Those of the lowest class were forced into this kind of work in
order to provide for their families. Then, the speaker criticizes the church,
calling it “blackning” and claiming that even the church “appalls” at the
Chimney sweeper. Often, the chimney sweepers were just children. They were
small enough to fit down the chimneys. These children were often orphaned
children, and the church was responsible for them. This explains why the poet
ties the chimney sweepers with the “blackning church”.

The speaker then turns his attentions to the “hapless soldier”. He has already
criticized society, pointed out the misfortunes of the poor and the hypocrisy of
the church, and now he will also criticize the government by suggesting that the
soldiers are the poor victims of a corrupt government. He reveals his feelings
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toward war by describing the blood that runs down the palace walls. The palace,
of course, is where royalty would have lived. Thus, the speaker accuses the
higher up people in his society of spilling the blood of the soldiers in order to
keep their comfort of living in a palace.

Stanza Four

But most thro‟ midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse

In the final stanza, the speaker reveals how the corruptness of society attacks
innocence. He says that he hears the “youthful Harlot‟s curse…”. The idea of a
youthful harlot suggests the level of poverty and corruption, that a girl who was
yet a youth would be involved in prostitution. Then, things become even more
interesting, as the speaker reveals the object of the Harlot‟s cursing. She curses
at the tears of a newborn baby. This is the ultimate attack upon innocence. The
speaker does not reveal whether the harlot is the mother of the baby or not, but
he does imply that rather than comforting a crying infant, she curses it. This
reveals the hardened heart of the harlot, which represents the hardened heart of
society at large. While the innocent shed tears, the perverted attack them.

The last line of „London‟reveals the speaker‟s thoughts on marriage as well. The
Harlot, apparently, has “blighted” the “marriage hearse”. She has deranged
marriage by having sold her body before ever entering into the marriage union.
Although the speaker believes that the Harlot has somehow damaged marriage,
he also reveals his beliefs about marriage in the first place. The fact that he calls
it a “marriage hearse” reveals that he views marriage as death. Overall, the
poem has criticized society, the church, prostitution, and even marriage. The
innocent baby shedding tears represent those who are innocent in the world.
They are few and they are scoffed at. They are also infants and are not left to be
innocent for long. Their innocence is “blasted” by the cry of the perverted.

William Blake
William Blake was born near London in the late 1700‟s, which means that he
lived in the 1800‟s when the ideals of society were restrictive and often
overwhelming. He did not conform to these patterns, but rather found himself
among other radical thinkers.

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 Ode on a Grecian Urn
John Keats

‗Ode on a Grecian Urn,‘ an ekphrastic poem, is one of John Keats‘ ―Great Odes
of 1819‖.

―Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all‖, have you ever wondered how
confident a poet can be to utter these memorable words?

‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ is John Keats‘ attempt to engage with the beauty of art
and nature, addressing a piece of pottery from ancient Greece. Keats is perhaps
most famous for his odes such as this one as well as ‗Ode to a Nightingale,‘ in
which the poet deals with the expressive nature of music. The urn itself is
ancient. It‘s been passed down over the millennia to finally reach Keats‘s
presence and, to him, seems to exist outside of the traditional sense of time.
Ageless, immortal, it‘s almost alien in its distance from the current age.

Summary

‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ by John Keats centers on a Grecian urn (a type of

ancient pottery) and the engravings beautifully depicted on it.

In this poem, Keats (or at least, the speaker in the poem) mulls over the strange
idea of the human figures carved into the urn. They are paradoxical figures, free
from the constraints and influences of time but at the same time, imprisoned in
an exact moment. For all that they don‘t have to worry about growing old or
dying, they cannot experience life as it is for the rest of humanity.

‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ represents three attempts at engaging with the urn and
its scenes. Across the stanzas, Keats tries to wonder about who the figures are,
what they‘re doing, what they represent, and what the underlying meaning of
their images might be. But by the end of the poem, he realizes that the entire
process of questioning is fairly redundant.

Meaning

The title of the poem ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ gives readers the central idea at
first hand. It is a poetic representation of a piece of art, specifically the beautiful
paintings on a Grecian urn. The poetic persona has encountered the urn with
utter astonishment. He is rather astounded by the artist who has created this
everlasting piece. The depictions on the vase raise several questions in the
onlooker‘s mind. Through this poem, Keats‘ persona describes it beautifully. In
the end, he proclaims the everlastingness of art through the line ―Beauty is truth,
truth beauty‖.

Structure

Like other entries in Keats‘s series of ―Great Odes of 1819‖, ‗Ode on a Grecian
Urn‘ builds on a specific structure. Its closest formal cousin is probably ‗Ode on
Indolence,‘ though it contains a slightly different rhyme scheme. Split into five
verses (stanzas) of ten lines each, and making use of fairly rigid iambic
pentameter, ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ is very carefully put together.

The rhyme scheme is split into two parts, with the final three lines of each
stanza varying slightly. For the first seven lines, a rhyme scheme of ABABCDE
is used, though the instance of the CDE part is not always as strict. In verse one,
the final three lines are DCE; in the second verse, they‘re CED; stanzas three
and four both use CDE, while the fifth and final stanza uses DCE. This gives
the piece a ponderous feel, adding a sense of deliberation to the final lines of
each verse while still adhering to the form.

Just like in his other odes, the splitting of the verses into rhymes of four lines
and six lines creates a distinct sense of there being two parts to each verse. As it
is, this typically means that the first four lines (ABAB) are used to set out the
verse‘s subject, while the final six lines mull over what it means.

Literary Devices

The major literary devices that are used in Keats‘ ode are mentioned below.
This list is not exhaustive but it encompasses the important ones.

Apostrophe: This ode begins with an apostrophe. Keats directly invokes the
urn at the beginning. It also occurs in the following examples: ―O mysterious
priest‖ and ―O Attic shape!‖

Metaphor: Keats uses metaphors in ―unravish‘d bride of quietness,‖ ―foster-

child of silence and slow time,‖ ―ditties of no tone,‖ etc.

Paradox: The first three lines are paradoxical. In these lines, the poet refers to
the Grecian urn from three perspectives. Each reference is contradictory to the
other. It also occurs in the following lines: ―Though winning near the goal yet,
do not grieve; / She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss‖

Alliteration: ―leaf-fring‘d legend,‖ ye soft pipes, play on,‖ ―heart high-

sorrowful,‖ etc.

Rhetorical Question: The last three lines of the first stanza contain this
device. For example: ―What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?‖
Themes

Keats‘ ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ taps on the themes of the immortality of art,
beauty, and romanticism. The main theme of this poem is the immortality of art.
To depict this theme, Keats uses a Grecian urn and the emotive paintings on this
piece. Each painting incites complex emotions in the speaker‘s mind. He
expresses his thoughts regarding the depictions. By doing this, he tries to
portray the everlastingness of art or this special vase. Keats contrasts art with
humans to portray that art exists forever even if the artist is no more. Besides,
the themes of nature and beauty, and nature are also integral to the central idea
of this ode.

Detailed Analysis

Stanza One

Thou still unravish‘d bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring‘d legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

During this first verse, we see the narrator announcing that he is standing before
a very old urn from Greece. The urn becomes the subject of ‗Ode on a Grecian
Urn,‘ so all of the ideas and thoughts are addressed towards it. On the urn, we
are told there are images of people who have been frozen in place for all of the
time, as the ―foster-child of silence and slow time.‖

The narrator also explains to us that he is discussing the matter in his role as a
―historian‖ and that he‘s wondering just what legend or story the figures stuck
on the side of the pottery are trying to convey. One such picture, seemingly
showing a gang of men as they chase some women, is described as a ―mad
pursuit‖ but the narrator wants to know more about the ―struggle to escape‖ or
the ―wild ecstasy.‖ The juxtaposition between these two ideas gives an insight
into how he is projecting different narratives onto one scene, unsure of which
one is true.
Stanza Two

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear‘d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

During the second verse, the reader is introduced to another image on the
Grecian urn. In this scene, a young man is sitting with a lover, seemingly
playing a song on a pipe as they are surrounded by trees. Again, the narrator‘s
interest is piqued, but he decides that the ―melodies are sweet, but those unheard
/ Are sweeter.‖

Unaffected by growing old or changing fashions, the notes the narrator imagines
the man playing offer unlimited potential for beauty. While the figures will
never grow old, the music also contains an immortal quality, one much
―sweeter‖ than regular music. The narrator comforts the man, who he
acknowledges will never be able to kiss his companion, with the fact that she
will never lose her beauty as she is frozen in time.

Stanza Three

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy‘d,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy‘d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

The third stanza again focuses on the same two lovers but turns its attention to
the rest of the scene. The trees behind the pipe player will never grow old and
their leaves will never fall, an idea which pleases the narrator. Just like the
leaves, the love shared between the two is equally immortal and won‘t have the
chance to grow old and stale. Normal love between humans can languish into a
―breathing human passion‖ and becomes a ―burning forehead and a parching
tongue,‖ a problem that the young lovers will not face.

In attempting to identify with the couple and their scene, the narrator reveals
that he covets their ability to escape from the temporary nature of life. The
piper‘s song remains new forever while his lover remains young and beautiful.
This love, he believes, is ―far above‖ the standard human bond which can grow
tired and weary.

The parched tongue he references seems to indicate that he‘s worried about the
flame of passion diminishing as time passes, something that won‘t worry the
young couple. On viewing the figures, the narrator is reminded of the
inevitability of his own diminishing passions and regrets that he doesn‘t have
the same chance at immortality as the two figures on the urn.

Stanza Four

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead‘st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e‘er return.

The fourth stanza of ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ really begins to develop the ideas.
Turning to another image on the urn, this time a group of people bringing a cow
to be sacrificed, the narrator begins to wonder about the individuals‘ lives. We
also see the speaker in ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ attempt to think about the people
on the urn as though they were functioning in regular time. This means that he
imagines them to have had a starting point – the ―little town‖ – and an endpoint
– the ―green altar.‖

In turn, he imagines the ―little town‖ they come from, now deserted because its
inhabitants are frozen in the image on the side of the urn ―for evermore.‖ This
hints at what he sees as the limitations of the static piece of art, in that the
viewer can never discern the human motivations of the people, the ―real story‖
that makes them interesting as people.

The narrator‘s attempts to engage with the figures on the urn do change. Here,
his curiosity from the first stanza evolves into a deeper kind of identification
with the young lovers, before thinking of the town and community as a whole in
the fourth. Each time, the reach of his empathy expands from one figure to two,
and then to a whole town. But once he encounters the idea of an empty town,
there‘s little else to say. This is the limit of the urn as a piece of art, as it‘s not
able to provide him with any more information.

Stanza Five

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede

Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say‘st,
―Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.‖

The final stanza is perhaps the most famous piece of poetry Keats ever wrote.
This time, he is talking directly to the urn itself, which he believes ―doth tease
us out of thought.‖ Even after everyone has died, the urn will remain, still
providing hints at humanity but no real answers.

This is where we come to the conclusions he draws. There is a sense that the
narrator finds the lack of change imposed upon the figures to be overwhelming.
The urn teases him with its immortal existence, feeding off the ―hungry
generations‖ (a line from ‗Ode to a Nightingale‘) and their intrigue without ever
really providing answers.

The urn is almost its own little world, living by its own rules. While it might be
interesting and intriguing, it will never be mortal. It‘s a purely aesthetic piece of
art, something the speaker finds to be unsatisfying when compared to the
richness of everyday human life.

The last lines in the piece have become incredibly well known. They can be
read as an attempt, to sum up, the entire process of ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ in
one couplet. ―Beauty is truth, truth beauty‖ as an idea has proved very difficult
to dissect, however, due to its mysteriousness. It‘s unclear whether the
sentiment is spoken by the narrator, the urn, or by Keats himself, thanks to the
enigmatic use of quotation marks.

The source of the speech matters. If it‘s the narrator, then it could mean that he
has become aware of the limitations of such a static piece of artwork. If it‘s the
urn, then the idea that one piece of art (or self-contained phrase) could
encompass humanity in any kind of complete fashion is nonsensical, and the
line deliberately plays off this.

There‘s a futility in trying to sum up the true nature of beauty in just twenty
syllables, a fact which might actually be the point of the couplet. Thanks to the
dense, complicated nature of the final two lines, the ending remains open to
interpretation.

Historical Context

One of John Keats‘ greatest poems ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ was penned in May
1819. This piece was first published in ―Annals of the Fine Arts of 1819‖
anonymously.

The inspiration behind writing this poem came from two articles published in
the Examiner on 2 May and 9 May 1819 by English artist and writer Benjamin
Haydon. Keats‘ familiarity with the Elgin Marbles and other writings regarding
ancient art, also inspired him to pen down this beautiful ode. Through this piece,
John Keats depicts the idealism in classical works, the Grecian virtues, eternity,
nature, and last but not least the true value of art. Explore more John Keats
poems and the themes present there.

FAQs

What is ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ about?

Keats‘ ‗Ode on a Grecian Urn‘ is about the beauty in classical art and the
everlastingness of art, especially the Grecian urn. Through this poem, the poet
explores the complex emotions raised in his heart after seeing the urn.

What kind of ode is ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’?

It‘s a Keatsian Ode. As Keats felt that the Pindaric ode form was inadequate to
express complex emotions and philosophy, he invented his own form while
writing his ―Great Odes‖. This poem contains both the symmetry of classical
literature and the asymmetry of Romantic poetry.

What kind of poem is ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’?

This poem is ekphrastic as it is a poetic description of a work of art (the Grecian

urn). It contains a vivid and dramatic description of the visual art.

Who is the speaker in ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’?

The speaker of this poem is none other than Keats‘ poetic persona. Keats
doesn‘t directly involve the text from the subjective perspective. He distances
himself and speaks through his poetic self.
When was ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ written?

The exact date of its composition is unknown. Keats dated ‗Ode on a Grecian
Urn‘ May 1819.

What do the last two lines of ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ mean?

The last two lines of this poem ―Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye
know on earth, and all ye need to know‖ are much-debated by literary critics.
The personified ―Grecian urn‖ utters these lines to humankind. These lines
mean the thing of beauty is truth and vice versa. That is what one needs to know
on earth.
 Sonnet 3
William Shakespeare

„Sonnet 3: Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest‟ is a procreation
sonnet within the fair youth sequence, a series of poems that are addressed to an
unknown young man.

Sonnet 3 is part of William Shakespeare‟s collection of 154 sonnets, which

were first published in a 1609 quarto. The poem is a procreation sonnet within
the fair youth sequence, a series of poems that are addressed to an unknown
young man. Particularly, Sonnet 3 focuses on the young man‟s refusal to
procreate.

The form of the poem is typical of a Shakespearean sonnet: three quatrains and
a rhyming couplet. It has fourteen decasyllabic lines, iambic pentameter, and an
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. Sonnet 3 has procreation and beauty
as main themes. Moreover, the tone of the poem portrays the lyrical voice‟s
fixation and fervor over the young man.

Analysis

Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest,

Now is the time that face should form another,
Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,
Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.

In the first quatrain, the lyrical voice urges the young man to have a child. The
poem starts by referring to the story of Narcissus, as the lyrical voice mentions
the young man‟s tendency to “Look in thy glass”. The lyrical voice admires his
beauty, but he/she sees the young man as selfish, as he/she tells him to: “tell the
face thou viewest,/ Now is the time that face should form another”. Thus, the
lyrical voice is encouraging him to have children, to “form another”. In order to
convince him, the lyrical voice suggests that he is being unfair for not passing
on his beauty: “Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest,/Thou dost beguile
the world, unbless some mother”.

For where is she so fair whose uneared womb

Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?
Or who is he so fond will be the tomb
Of his self-love, to stop posterity?

In the second quatrain, the lyrical voice states the reasons why the young man
should have a child. To convey this, the lyrical voice uses an extended metaphor
of farming, as several rural terms make a reference to sexual intercourse. The
young man is told that no woman would reject him: “For where is she so fair
whose uneared womb/ Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?”. And, moreover,
that it isn‟t a good idea not to have children: “Or who is he so fond will be the
tomb/Of his self-love, to stop posterity?”. The final lines of the stanza insinuate
that, with the passing of time, the beauty of the young man will fade and, in
order to stop that, a possibility is to procreate and pass on that beauty. It also
suggests that the young man is being foolish and selfish and that he is fixed in
his own present.

Thou art thy mother‟s glass, and she in thee

Calls back the lovely April of her prime;
So thou through windows of thine age shalt see,
Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time.

In the third quatrain, the lyrical voice compares the young man and his mother
in order to convince him of becoming a father. The lyrical voice suggests that
the young man is the reflection of his mother and that she can see herself in her
child: “Thou art thy mother‟s glass, and she in thee/ Calls back the lovely April
of her prime”.
Notice how youth is described: “the lovely April of her prime”. Thus, that could
also happen if the young man had a child: “So thou through windows of thine
age shalt see,/Despite of wrinkles, this thy golden time”. The window is used as
an idea that reunites past and present; the windows are the young man‟s eyes
that will enable him to see his youth in his children (“thy golden time”). The
lyrical voice is trying to make the young man understand that he will eventually
get old and his beauty will fade, but, if he has children, this beauty will live on
his predecessors.

But if thou live remembered not to be,

Die single and thine image dies with thee.
In the final couplet, the lyrical voice mentions the consequences that the young
man will suffer if he doesn‟t have a child. If the young man dies before having a
child, no one will remember him nor his beauty: “But if thou live remembered
not to be,/Die single and thine image dies with thee”. Once again, the lyrical
voice emphasizes the need to pass on the young man‟s beauty to a child, or else
it will die with him. These final lines condense the idea that the lyrical voice has
introduced throughout the sonnet.

About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was baptized in 1564 and died in 1616. He was an English
poet, playwright, and actor. He is known as the greatest writer of the English
language and as the most exceptional dramatist of all times. Moreover, William
Shakespeare is often referred to as England‟s National Poet, and his works
include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long poems, and other texts and collaborations.
Between 1585 and 1592, William Shakespeare started a successful career in
London as an actor and writer. Also, he was a part-owner of a company called
Lord Chamberlain‟s Men. During those years, Shakespeare wrote most of his
famous work. His first plays were mostly comedies, but his later works were
tragedies, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, as his most
remarkable plays. William Shakespeare wrote tragedies until 1608, and, after
that, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborations with other writers. In 1613,
when he was 49 years of age, William Shakespeare retired to Stratford. He died
three years later in 1616.

Most of his plays were published during his lifetime. However, they were
printed in a variety of qualities and with several variations. Nevertheless, in
1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, who were Shakespeare‟s friends and
colleagues, published a more precise text known as the First Folio. The First
Folio is a collected edition of Shakespeare‟s dramatic works that includes most
of the plays recognized as written by Shakespeare. It has a preface with a poem
written by Ben Jonson.
 The Nightingale

Sir Philip Sidney

“The Nightingale” appears in Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella series.
This poem, like other poems of Elizabethan literature, speaks specifically on a
speaker’s heartache. It contrasts a lovelorn one’s hidden pain that gets aroused
by the sweet yet lamenting song of the bird. He tries to portray there is more
just cause to lament in contrast to the mythical pain of Philomela, turned into a
nightingale by Olympian Gods. Sidney admits that Philomela was in grave
distress. However, now, in the month of spring, it can sing the sweetest songs.
While he is pierced by the “thorn” of love in the spring symbolizing life and
rejuvenation.

Summary

“The Nightingale” is a song of a speaker whose heart pains deep for unrequited
love. It aches and makes Sidney’s poetic persona sicker. While the nightingale’s
song increases his distress. The poem begins with a reference to the month of
April when the nightingale sings beautiful songs amidst the rejuvenating nature.
It seems to the speaker as if nature is mournfully bewailing the bird’s woes. The
nightingale, representing the mythical figure Philomela, sings out her woes.
However, the speaker says that there is a “juster cause” to complain in
comparison to long-faded pain.

Furthermore, Sidney alludes to the story of Tereus who oppressed Philomela out
of sheer lust. He compares his present state to her, now transformed into a
nightingale. According to him, he has more cause to lament his own pain. He is
in pain not for having too much, but for too much craving for the lady he wants.

Form, Rhyme Scheme, & Meter

Sidney’s “The Nightingale” has a song-like structure. It contains two stanzas

ending with a four-line refrain. Each section of the poem consists of twelve
lines. The rhyme scheme of the poem ABABCDDCEEFF. So, the first four
lines contain an alternative rhyme scheme. The following four lines have a
closed rhyming pattern. While the last four lines form two rhyming couplets.
The following stanza has the same rhyming pattern.

Sidney composed this poem in iambic pentameter and iambic trimeter

alternatively with hypermetrical lines. The lines having eleven syllables contain
five iambs and those having seven syllables contain three iambs. The unstressed
syllable at the end of a line is considered a hypermetrical foot.
Let’s look at the scansion of the first stanza to understand how the meter works.

The night/-ing-ale,/ as soon/ as Ap/-ril bring/-eth

Un-to/ her rest/-ed sense/ a per/-fect wak/-ing,
While late/ bare earth,/ proud of/ new cloth/-ing, spring/-eth,
Sings out/ her woes,/ a thorn/ her song/-book mak/-ing,
And mourn/-ful-ly/ be-wail/-ing,
Her throat/ in tunes/ ex-press/-eth
What grief/ her breast/ op-press/-eth
For Te/-reus’ force/ on her/ chaste will/ pre-vail/-ing.
O Phi/-lo-me/-la fair,/ O take/ some glad/-ness,
That here/ is just/-er cause/ of plaint/-ful sad/-ness:
Thine earth/ now springs,/ mine fad/-eth;
Thy thorn/ with-out,/ my thorn/ my heart/ in-vad/-eth.

Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Sidney makes use of the following poetic devices in “The Nightingale.”

Personification: In this poem, Sidney personifies the nightingale as a singer

of woeful songs. Besides, in “While late bare earth, proud of new clothing,
springeth,” the earth is personified.

Allusion: There is an allusion to the myth of Philomela and Tereus in this

poem.

Metaphor: In the phrase “a thorn her song-book making”, the poet uses the
terms “thorn” and “song-book” as metaphors. Readers can also find a number of
personal metaphors in this piece.

Apostrophe: It occurs in “O Philomela fair, O take some gladness”.

Refrain: The last four lines are used as a refrain. It reiterates the main idea of
this poem.

Antithesis: In the lines, “Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth;/ Thy thorn
without, my thorn my heart invadeth”, Sidney uses this device. Here, the
juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas emphasizes the speaker’s mental state.

Themes

The main theme of “The Nightingale” is heartache. It also taps on the themes of
love, lust, spring, music, and suffering. This poem is all about the heartache of a
speaker who is in eager wait for his beloved. It seems the person he loves has
not accepted his love. As the days pass by, it increases his longing for the lady
and the pain of waiting. From the second stanza, it seems that the speaker is
rejected by the lady. Besides, he takes recourse to the heart-wrenching story of
Philomela in order to portray the similarity between them. The themes of love
and lust also appear in the allusion to this myth of Philomela.

Line-by-Line Critical Analysis & Explanation

Lines 1-5

The nightingale, as soon as April bringeth

Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,
While late bare earth, proud of new clothing, springeth,
Sings out her woes, a thorn her song-book making,
And mournfully bewailing,
Sir Philip Sidney’s poem “The Nightingale” begins with a reference to the
month of spring. Sidney personifies the bird and captures its reaction in April.
The chilling winter made its senses numb. In the cajoling heat of spring, its
senses rejuvenate. It is described as a “perfect waking” for the nightingale. So,
its inactivity during winter is compared to sleeping.

While the earth that became bare in winter is now proud of her new clothing of
vegetation. Nature also springs alongside the nightingale. It seems to the
speaker as if nature sings out the woes of the bird.

In the next part of this line, Sidney uses the term “thorn” as a symbol. It
represents the pain of the nightingale. Philomela, a figure in Greek mythology,
was turned into a nightingale by Olympian Gods. Sidney alludes to this
mythical character through the reference to the nightingale.

Philomela sings her woeful story through her song. Her heartache acts as an
inspiration in her “song-book”. Here, the “song-book” is a metaphor of the
bird’s sad songs. Those songs mournfully bewail her tragic destiny.

Lines 6-8

Her throat in tunes expresseth

What grief her breast oppresseth
For Tereus’ force on her chaste will prevailing.
Sidney describes how Philomela (depicted as a nightingale) expresses her grief
through her tunes in the following lines. Her songs portray the grief that
oppresses her heart. By listening to her songs, the poet thinks Tereus’ force still
prevails on her “chaste will”. In the quoted phrase, the poet uses a transferred
epithet. The adjective “chaste” applies to the pronoun “her” instead of her
“will”. Through this reference, the poet depicts Philomela’s chastity.
In these lines, Sidney hints at the rape of Philomela by her sister’s husband
Tereus. Later, she obtained her revenge of him and was incidentally turned into
a nightingale. Tereus’s cruelty had such an impression on her will that it still
pains deep. She expresses this pain through her monotonous melodies.

Lines 9-12

O Philomela fair, O take some gladness,

That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness:
Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth;
Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.
The last four lines of the first stanza are directly addressed to fair Philomela.
Sidney’s speaker says her to be glad as he is in more distress than her. He
describes his pain as “juster” than the cause of her “plaintful sadness”. The
phrase “plaintful sadness” refers to Philomela’s complaining and sad songs.
According to the speaker, his case is more grave and pathetic than Philomela’s
story. She can express her pain in the rejuvenating spring.

In his case, everything around him is starting to fade even though nature is filled
with springing with colors. This juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas is meant
for emphasizing the speaker’s pain. In the last line, he reiterates the fact that
Philomela is relieved of the “thorn” by avenging the misdeed caused to her
chaste will. Whereas, the “thorn” of his life inserted into his heart. It now aches
and makes his mind wearier. Here, the “thorn” of the speaker stands for
loneliness, hopelessness, and pain of unrequited love.

Lines 13-16

Alas, she hath no other cause of anguish

But Tereus’ love, on her by strong hand wroken,
Wherein she suffering, all her spirits languish;
Full womanlike complains her will was broken.
In the following section of “The Nightingale”, Sidney’s persona ironically
comments on Philomela’s cause of anguish. According to him, she has no other
cause to lament but Tereus’ lustful love for her body. Indeed, his strong hands
had wreaked havoc on her mind and body. It resulted in her suffering.
Gradually, her spirits languished. At one point, her will was totally broken as
none heard her “Full womanlike complains”.

In this section, Sidney presents an important idea concerning the nature of his
speaker’s pain and that of Philomela. The hurts of Philomela was somehow
originated from love. It can be physical yet it is a desire that originates from the
darker side of the heart. In her case, her pain is caused by this darker kind of
love. No matter what, the essence of love is present in her tragedy. While, in the
speaker’s case, he suffers for the complete absence of love, be it physical or
mental.

Lines 17-20

But I, who daily craving,

Cannot have to content me,
Have more cause to lament me,
Since wanting is more woe than too much having.
The speaker daily craves love. He does not have any source of hope to satiate
her lonely, aching heart. Therefore, he has more causes to lament his own
condition instead of Philomela’s tragedy.

In the following line, the poet uses an epigram that is going to stick with the
readers for a long time. Here, he says that the strong desire for a thing makes
one sadder than having too much. What does it mean?

Since wanting is more woe than too much having from The Nightingale “Since
wanting is more woe than too much having.”

When one has “too much” with him, it comes up with several challenges.
Having more than the needs creates tension in a person’s life and increases the
burden. On the other hand, the idea of craving is more woeful than a luxury.
The desire to have a thing that is either difficult to achieve or impossible to get
only increases the heartache.

Lines 21-24

O Philomela fair, O take some gladness,

That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness:
Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth;
Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.
The last four lines of this stanza are repeated for the sake of emphasis. They are
also used as a refrain. Through these lines, Sidney points at the fact that his
speaker needs special attention. The pain of Philomela is in no way similar to
that of the speaker. He has already lost hope that is depicted through the term
“fadeth”. Alongside that, he cannot get rid of the pain caused by the “thorn” of
love. However, Philomela gets rid of it through her songs.

Historical Context

According to scholars, “The Nightingale” is a song of the Stella series. It

appears in the 1598 edition of Arcadia. The poem was written in the tune of
“Non credo giàche piu infelice amante.” In this poem, Sir Philip Sidney alludes
to the Greek sisters’ tragedy.
The Myth of Philomela, Procne, & Tereus

The mythical story can be found in Book VI of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The

sisters, Philomela and Procne were daughters of Pandion I, King of Athens and
Zeuxippe. Procne was married to Tereus of Thrace. However, Tereus was
lustful for Proce’s sister Philomela. Later, in the story, Tereus raped Philomela,
mutilated her tongue, and abandoned her in the cabin.

As she could not tell of her physical and mental injuries, she wove a tapestry
depicting her story and had it sent to Procne. Procne, being incensed in revenge,
killed her son by Tereus, Itys. She served her son as a meal to her husband. It
made Tereus angry and he was after the sisters’ lives. But, all three were
transformed into birds by Olympian Gods.

Tereus became a hoopoe. In some versions of the myth, he was turned into a
hawk. Procne became a swallow. Philomela became the nightingale. However,
the female nightingale could not sing.

Questions & Answers

How did Sir Philip Sidney express his feelings through a nightingale?

Sidney expresses his feelings of distress, loneliness, and heartache after

listening to the woeful song of the nightingale. Spring comes with its vivid
colors and musicality. In contrast to that, the poet seems to be more discouraged
by the rejuvenating beauty. The colors of his life have faded away and the
“thorn” of love pains him deep.

Why is the nightingale singing in the poem “The Nightingale”?

The nightingale, a metaphorical reference to Philomela, sings as the season of

spring cheers its senses. Spring encourages her to sing her pain out. It sings of
her tragic story of being raped and mutilated by her sister’s husband Tereus.

What is “Tereus’ love” in the poem “The Nightingale” by Sir Philip

Sydney?

It is a reference to the myth of Tereus and Philomela. In this phrase, Sidney is

ironically comparing Tereus’ lust with love. It is a reference to the physical
passion, devoid of the purity of love.

Who is the titular nightingale in Sidney’s poem?

The nightingale is a reference to the Greek mythical figure, Philomela. She was
transformed into a female nightingale that cannot sing. As she lost her tongue,
God made her a female nightingale.
Who is the addressee in the poem “The Nightingale”?

The addressee in the poem is fair Philomela. Sidney refers to the nightingale
representing the mythical character.

Which month of the year is referred to in the poem “The Nightingale”?

In the first line of the poem, Sidney refers to the month of April or the season of
spring.

What does it mean to “bewail” in “The Nightingale”?

This word appears in the phrase “mournfully bewailing”. The term “bewail”
means to express great regret and sadness about something.

What does the nightingale symbolize?

The nightingale in the poem symbolizes grief and heartache.

What is the main theme of “The Nightingale” by Sir Philip Sidney?

The main theme of Sidney’s poem concerns the heartache of a speaker, a victim
of unrequited love. It explores this theme by alluding to the mythical story of
Philomela.
 The Sun Rising

John Donne

Introduction

John Donne was an outstanding English poet, born in a Roman Catholic family
and later in 1590s converted to Anglicanism. He was also very famous for his
sermons and he also played his role as a Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
He went to Oxford University at the age of 11 where he got education for three
years, but took no degree. He studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, London, in 1592,
and he was sounded fated for a diplomatic profession.

The writing style of John Donne was different from the other poets of his age.
In his poetry there is a sudden flight from material to spiritual sphere, there is
individualism, search for learning, it is also full of wit and conceits. His work is
a dramatic departure from traditional verse style. Due to his style powerful
spiritual Dryden, Johnsons, and Dowden referred John Donne a Metaphysical
poet.

John Donne as a Metaphysical Poet

Metaphysical poetry is a poetry that is not worldly or common but it goes

beyond the physical world.it is a very intellectual form of poetry as it explores
spiritual world. The main theme of Donne’s metaphysical poetry is
philosophical and the main subjects of Donne’s poetry is love, religion, God,
beauty and faith. Metaphysical poetry took its birth at the age of Renaissance
and John Donne is the most prominent among the metaphysical poets. He is
widelyconsidered the founder and father of metaphysical poetry. The term
Metaphysical poetry was later created and popularized in eighteen century by
Samuel Johnsons. He used the term in his book “Lives of the most eminent
English poets”, which is a critical appraisal work consist of biographies of 52
poets.

Introduction to John Donne’s Poem The Sun Rising

John Donne’s poem “The Sun Rising” originally its spelling is “The Sunne
Rising” is a metaphysical love poem published in 1633. The poem is consist of
thirty lines and three stanzas, and full of metaphysical imagery, conceits, and
wits of John Donne. This is one of the most beautiful poems in which the
speaker wants to change the rules of nature for lovers. He wants complete
privacy that even the nature interruption is unbearable for him, in this way he
gives more importance to love above nature and other practices of life.

Throughout the poem the speaker is trying his level best to prove his love strong
and beautiful among other things in the universe. The speaker develops the idea
that his love is powerful and all the universe exist within his love. The speaker
1
personify the sun by insulting words “busy old fool”, because he wants to give
more power and strength to his love. The sun also shows passing of time, so the
poet is insulting the sun that love is not in yours control. Instead of interrupting
lovers go and call the people arguably less important for instant, boys late for
school, restful apprentices and farm workers.

Rhyme Scheme

The rhyme scheme of The Sun Rising in each stanza is as: ABBACDCDEE
Stanza Wise Summary of the Poem The Sun Rising

The poem The Sun Rising by John Donne is comprised of three stanzas.
Explanation of each stanza is given below.

Explanation of First Stanza

Busy old fool, unruly sun,

Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices,
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

The poem sets in the speaker’s bedroom where the sun interrupts the privacy of
the poet and his love, so there is a conflict between the speaker, his lover and
the sun. The speaker personifies the sun as a “busy old fool” who has no rule in
front of some authority. The sun is initially insulted before being challenged.
The sun visits the bed chamber of the poet and his beloved, and that is
unmannered and foolish thing to interrupts lovers privacy. At the age of Donne
“you” was used in the formal and polite way while “thou and thee” was used for
calling someone in informal manner.

The speaker by calling the sun thou means that the sun is an inferior being. In
the third and fourth lines the speaker is asking a rhetoric question, in actual the
speaker is not interested to know about his answer. Instead he wants to tell the
sun that do not interfere in the affairs of lovers, bother lovers in their bedroom is
unruly. Then the speaker says that its not possible for lovers to go according to
yours motion, because love is beyond limits and barriers. Go and call the people
whose works are not much important, you need to wake up late school boys,
hunts man and farmers to go for work. The speaker is further describing powers
of love and says that love is beyond time, weather, place and time of year. It
never changes, it never affected by the division of clocks.
2
Explanation of Second Stanza

Thy beams, so reverend and strong

Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long;
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and tomorrow late, tell me,
Whether both th’ Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw’st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay.

In the second stanza of The Sun Rising poet is again asking a rhetoric question,
he addresses the sun that what make you that your light is so awesome. All it
takes to me is a blink of an eye and can easily fade your shine in the clouds in
seconds just by closing his eyes but I don’t want to waste my time by doing
that. The speaker doesn’t want to close his eyes because in that way he will also
miss the beautiful sight of his beloved. Now go and come and come the next
day late with the news of kings and queens, the news about the Indian spices,
and all the other beautiful things of the world.

At the end of the second stanza the speaker is of the view that all the riches,
beauties and specialties of the world lie besides him on his bed. It means that
the speaker is of the opinion that his beloved is most precious among worldly
things and his love is more powerful than all the powers of the world.

Explanation of Third/Last Stanza

She’s all states, and all princes, I,

Nothing else is.
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world’s contracted thus.
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.

In the last stanza of the poem the speaker continue parsing his beloved, he says
my beloved is the whole world to me. The speaker says that when we are
together we find ourselves so rich and happy that we needs nothing else. “She is
all states, and all prices I” means that they feel very satisfied and happy in one
another company. He considers his beloved the whole world in the same way he
considers himself a king because he has the possession of his beloved. His
3
beloved is more important for him and all the honors and riches of the world is
nothing for him. The speaker says that we don’t need wealth or gold, which
Alchemist claims to make from junk metal.

“Thou, sun, art, half as happy as we”

The speaker says that the sun is not happy because he is alone so that he is half
happy. At the end of the last stanza the tone of the speaker becomes
companionate, he says that you are now old but it is still your duty to keep the
earth warm. He befriend the sun and invite the sun to his bedroom, the speaker
says that if you shine over us you will shine over every part of the world,
because his bedroom is the cente

4
 To a Skylark
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Summary

„To a Skylark‟ by Percy Bysshe Shelley is an ode to the “blithe” essence of a

singing skylark and how human beings are unable to ever reach that same bliss.
The poem begins with the speaker spotting a skylark flying above him. He can
hear the song clearly. The bird‟s song “unpremeditated” is unplanned and
beautiful. Shelley is stunned by the music produced by the bird and entranced
by its movement as it flies into the clouds and out of sight. Although he can no
longer see it, he is still able to hear it and feel its presence. The bird represents
the pure, unbridled happiness that Shelley is desperately seeking. This
desperation comes through in the next stanzas.
The poet then embarks on a number of metaphors through which he is hoping to
better understand what the bird is and what he can accurately compare it to. He
sees the bird as a “high-born maiden” that serenades her lover below her and
spring, or “vernal,” showers that rain on the flowers below. The skylark is like
“rainbow clouds” and the epitome of all “Joyous” things.
The next section of the ode is used to ask the skylark to reveal what inspires it
to sing such a glorious song. Is it, the poet asks, “fields, or waves, or
mountains?” Could it be, he speculates, “shapes of sky or plain?” Whatever it
may be, Shelley has never seen anything that could force such sounds from his
own voice.
He states that for a creature to have the ability to sing in such a way, it must
know nothing of sorrow or “annoyance.” The bird must have the ability to see
beyond life, understand death, and feel no concern about it. This is why humans
may never reach the same state of happiness that the skylark exists within.
“We” pine for things that we do not have, and even our “sweetest songs” are
full of the “saddest thought[s].”
„To a Skylark„ concludes with the poet pleading with the bird to “Teach [him]
half the gladness / That thy brain must know.” Even that small amount would
provide Shelley with the ability to produce “harmonious madness” that would
force the world to listen to him must as raptly as he is listening to the skylark
now.

Themes

Throughout „To a Skylark,‟ Shelley engages with themes of nature and the
human spirit. The lines of this piece tap into both of these themes as the speaker
explores the beauty of the skylark and its surrounding habitat. They are
enlivened by its sound and the way it changes their experience of the natural
world. The poem is a clear celebration of nature and the way it makes human
beings feel.

Structure and Form

„To a Skylark„ by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a twenty-one stanza ode that is
consistent in its rhyme scheme from the very first to the last stanza. The piece
rhymes ABABB, with varying end sounds, from beginning to end.
This strictly formatted pattern is also consistent in the meter. The first four lines
of each stanza are written in trochaic trimeter, meaning that a stressed syllable
comes before an unstressed (trochaic). Additionally, each of the first four lines
has three of these beats (trimeter). Different from the other four but consistent
with the rest of the poem, the fifth longer line of each stanza is written in iambic
hexameter. This means that each line has six beats of unstressed syllables
preceding stressed.

Literary Devices

Throughout „To a Skylark,‟ Shelley makes use of several literary devices. These
include but are not limited to:
Imagery: can be seen when the poet makes use of particularly interesting
descriptions. For example, “Like a cloud of fire; / The blue deep thou wingest.”
Apostrophe: occurs when the poet‟s speaker addresses something or someone
who either can‟t hear them or can‟t respond to them. In this case, the speaker
addresses the skylark calling it a “blithe Spirit.”
Alliteration: can be seen when the poet repeats the same consonant sounds at
the beginning of multiple words. For example, “Heaven” and “heart” in stanza
one and “still” and “springest” in stanza two.

Detailed Analysis

First Stanza

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!

Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

“To a Skylark” begins with the speaker, Percy Bysshe Shelley (as was detailed
in the introduction), pointing out a skylark in the sky. He calls out to the bird,
not in greeting, but in reverence, “Hail to thee.”

He is amazed at the sight, and as the reader will later discover, the song of the
bird. He refers to the bird as “blithe Spirit,” meaning happiness or joy. More
details will follow, but Shelley sees this bird as the epitome of joy. It is less a
bird and more an essence, a “Spirit.”

It is the best of all birds. It appears so beautiful to Shelley at that moment that
he claims it has come from “Heaven,” or at least from somewhere “near it.”
The bird is swooping in the sky and “Pour[ing]” from its “heart,” a song that is
described as “profuse,” or abundant, and full of “unpremeditated art.” It is an
artful song that is not planned or scripted and is, therefore, all the more
beautiful.

Second Stanza

Higher still and higher

From the earth thou springest
Like a cloud of fire;
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

In the second stanza of „To a Skylark,‟ Shelley makes some additional

observations. The bird is not stopping its ascent. It is flying “Higher still” as if it
has sprung up from the earth. He compares the skylark to “a cloud of fire.” It is
powerful and unstoppable. Perhaps the bird is returning to the “Heaven” from
where it first came.

Even though the bird is still ascending, it also keeps up its song. It does the two
simultaneously. It “still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.”

Third Stanza

In the golden lightning

Of the sunken sun,
O‟er which clouds are bright‟ning,
Thou dost float and run;
Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.

The bird is ascending up towards the “golden lightening” of the sun. The sun is
“sunken” or low on the horizon, a most likely setting for the day, giving the
scene greater ambiance as sunrise and sunset have always been seen as magical
times.

It flies up over the clouds that are closest to the sun. It is as if the bird is
“float[ing] and run[ing].” Behind the skylark is the power of “unbodied joy”
that does not run out of energy. It‟s “race is just begun.”

Fourth Stanza

The pale purple even

Melts around thy flight;
Like a star of Heaven,
In the broad day-light
Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight,
At this point in „To a Skylark,‟ the bird becomes obscured in the “pale purple”
sky. The sun is truly going down, and the light in the sky is changing. It seems
to “Melt” around the skylark as it flies.

Shelley compares this scene to one that the reader might come across during the
day. As one casts their eyes to the sky during the day, it is impossible to see
stars, “but yet” one knows they are there. This same thing stands true for
Shelley, who senses the bird‟s presence but can no longer see it. It is as if the
bird has become “a star of Heaven,” or perhaps it already was.

Fifth Stanza

Keen as are the arrows

Of that silver sphere,
Whose intense lamp narrows
In the white dawn clear
Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there.

In the fifth stanza, Shelley makes a comparison between the bird and the moon.
He is directly relating happiness and joy to the beauty of the natural world, a
theme that Shelley was not unfamiliar with.

The bird is as “Keen” as the “arrows” of light that emanate from the “silver
sphere” that is the moon. At night the moon is “intense[ly] bright,” but during
the day, once “white dawn clear[s],” it is very hard to see. It eventually
disappears, but we still know and “feel that it is there.”

Sixth Stanza

All the earth and air

With thy voice is loud,
As, when night is bare,
From one lonely cloud
The moon rains out her beams, and Heaven is overflow‟d.

The poet expands on this idea in the sixth stanza: The entire atmosphere of the
earth, all the one can see and cannot see, depending on the time of day, is made
greater when the bird‟s voice is there. The bird is like the rays of the moon that
rain down from Heaven.

Seventh Stanza

What thou art we know not;

What is most like thee?
From rainbow clouds there flow not
Drops so bright to see
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody.
It is at this point that the poet will once more return to the idea that the bird is
more than just a creature. It is representing something greater. It is the essence
of happiness and all that is needed to live a joyful life.

The speaker begins by stating that he does not know exactly what the skylark is,
only what he can think to compare it to. He names off a number of things that
he could compare the bird to. The first is “rainbow clouds,” which sound
pristinely beautiful, but the poet quickly dismisses them, as the “Drops” they
rain are nothing compared to the “melody” that “showers” from the skylark‟s
presence.

Eighth Stanza

Like a Poet hidden

In the light of thought,
Singing hymns unbidden,
Till the world is wrought
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not:

The next couple of stanzas continue on this theme as Shelley tries to figure out
how exactly to describe the bird.

It is, he states, like a poetic impulse that cannot be restrained. It is “singing

hymns unbidden that have unintended, but wonderful, consequences. The song
of the bird forces sympathy to surface in the minds of those that have not in the
past heeded the “hopes and fears” of others. It is actively and morally improving
those who hear its song.

Ninth Stanza

Like a high-born maiden

In a palace-tower,
Soothing her love-laden
Soul in secret hour
With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower:

Stanza nine of „To a Skylark„ provides the reader with another comparison. The
skylark is said to be like a “high-born maiden” that is locked away in a “palace-
tower.” From there, way above her lover, as the bird is above the poet, she is
able to secretly “Sooth,” his “soul.” Her words, just like the bird‟s music, are
“sweet as love,” and in the case of the maiden, it “overflows her bower,” or
bedroom.

Tenth Stanza

Like a glow-worm golden

 In a dell of dew,
Scattering unbeholden
Its aerial hue
Among the flowers and grass, which screen it from the view:

Shelley still has a couple more comparisons to share. He sees the bird as a
“glow-worm” that is emanating “golden” light in a “dell,” or small valley in the
woods, amongst the “dew.” This small moment of beauty is as delicate and
important as the moment in which Shelley is living. These natural comparisons
are those that bring Shelley the closest to relaying the emotion he felt while
hearing and briefly seeing the skylark.

The bird is “Scattering.” It‟s a “hue” or happiness from the sky. It is

“unbeholden” to anyone or anything. Its mind and actions are it‟s own. Its joy is
raining down “Among the flowers and grass,” its essence is becoming a part of
everything, not seen, but felt.

Eleventh Stanza

Like a rose embower‟d

In its own green leaves,
By warm winds deflower‟d,
Till the scent it gives
Makes faint with too much sweet those heavy-winged thieves:

In the eleventh stanza, the speaker presents one final comparison. The sounds,
the feeling, and the look of the bird remind Shelley of a “rose” that is protected,
or “embower‟d” but its own leaves.

The protection does not last forever, and “warm winds” can blow off all of its
flowers and spread its scent within the breeze. Quickly the “sweet” of the petals
are too much even for the winds, “those heavy-winged thieves.”

Twelfth Stanza

Sound of vernal showers

On the twinkling grass,
Rain-awaken‟d flowers,
All that ever was
Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass.

The speaker‟s metaphor extends into the twelfth stanza. The sound of the bird‟s
song is beyond everything. It “surpass[es]” everything that ever was before
considered “Joyous, and clear, and fresh.” It is better than the “Sound of
vernal,” or spring, “showers” landing on the “twinkling grass” and the beauty of
the flowers that rain will have “awaken‟d.”
Thirteenth Stanza

Teach us, Sprite or Bird,

What sweet thoughts are thine:
I have never heard
Praise of love or wine
That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine.

This is a turning point in „To a Skylark„ where the speaker, having exhausted
his metaphors, turns back to the skylark and addresses it.

He is hoping that the “Bird,” or perhaps it is more apt to call it a “Sprite” as it

embodies an emotion, what thoughts it is thinking. As a poet, he is trying to
relate to this flood of art and has in his life never seen anything that can inspire
such beauty. Not “Praise of love or wine.”

Fourteenth Stanza

Chorus Hymeneal,
Or triumphal chant,
Match‟d with thine would be all
But an empty vaunt,
A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want.

The song of the bird is described as being like a hymn sung by a chorus as well
as like a “triumphal chant.” It is suited to all occasions and all contingencies of
human life. It can equally outmatch religious or war-time subject matter and
inspiration.

Anything that would even attempt to compete with the bird would be “an empty
vaunt” or a baseless boast. Other songs would clearly be missing something, an
element that is impossible to name but clearly not there.

Fifteenth Stanza

What objects are the fountains

Of thy happy strain?
What fields, or waves, or mountains?
What shapes of sky or plain?
What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain?

Once more, the speaker probes the bird‟s mind. “What,” he asks, are you
thinking about? “What objects” or visions does your beautiful song come from?
He is determined in his questions, willing the bird with all his might to answer.
He believes that just around the corner, with just a few words from the bird, he
will have the answer to one of life‟s greatest questions. How to find happiness.

He poses a number of options, is your song inspired by “fields, or waves or

mountains?” Or perhaps it is given its form by the “shapes of sky or plain,”
meaning fields.

He continues questioning. Does your son come from “love of thine own kind?”
A love that the skylark has found amongst its own species or just a life blessed
without pain.

Sixteenth Stanza

With thy clear keen joyance

Languor cannot be:
Shadow of annoyance
Never came near thee:
Thou lovest: but ne‟er knew love‟s sad satiety.

The speaker does not believe that someone who has ever felt pain, the “Shadow
of annoyance,” or “Languor,” could produce this song of “keen joyance.” In
fact, these elements of life can‟t have even come close to touching the skylark.
He knows, somehow, that the bird has experienced the wonders of love without
“love‟s sad satiety” or disappointing conclusions.

Seventeenth Stanza

Waking or asleep,
Thou of death must deem
Things more true and deep
Than we mortals dream,
Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream?

From the notes of the bird‟s song, Shelley continues to make guesses about its
interior life. He believes that for the bird to be able to produce such a pure
sound, it must understand much more about life and death than “we mortals
dream.” This knowledge must be given from beyond, and therefore, the beyond
is where the sounds must come.

Eighteenth Stanza

We look before and after,

And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
„To a Skylark„ is in its conclusion, and the speaker, Percy Bysshe Shelley,
continues to make sweeping claims about the nature of the skylark. He
compares, in this stanza, the way that humans view death to the way that the
skylark must.

“We” are only able to view death as “before and after” while “pin[ing]” for
what we don‟t have. We are incapable of enjoying anything without
remembering our own pain. This is clearest through our “sweetest songs,”
which are not as pure as the skylark‟s unbridled happiness.

Nineteenth Stanza

Yet if we could scorn

Hate, and pride, and fear;
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.

The poet continues on, stating that even if the human race was able to shake off
their “Hate, and pride and fear” and all the very human things with which we
are born, even if we are able to find a state of being in which we “shed” not a
“tear,” still, we would not know the joy that the skylark does. We would not be
able to “come near.”

Twentieth Stanza

Better than all measures

Of delightful sound,
Better than all treasures
That in books are found,
Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

In the final two stanzas of „To a Skylark,‟ the poet makes one final plea to the
skylark.

He begins by saying that the ability to sing and experience happiness as the
skylark does is worth more to him than all “treasures / That in books are found.”
It is better “than all measures” of other “delightful sounds.”

Twenty-First Stanza

Teach me half the gladness

That thy brain must know,
Such harmonious madness
From my lips would flow
The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
He asks the skylark to please, “Teach me half the gladness / That thy brain must
know.” If Shelley could even know a portion of the bird‟s pleasure, he believes
that from “my lips,” a “harmonious madness” would flow. He would be
overcome with his own new abilities. His joyful sound would force the world to
listen to him as intently as he is now listening to the skylark.

All in all, „To a Skylark„ is about a man‟s search for happiness. At points, he
seems on the verge of desperation, hoping beyond hope that this small bird will
answer his biggest question. This poem is notably relatable for this reason. Who
has not wanted in their bleakest moments a quick fix, an instant reprieve, or
away into perpetual joy?

About Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in 1792 in Broadbridge Heath, England. He was
raised in the countryside and was educated at University College Oxford. While
in school, Shelley was well known for his liberal views and was once chastised
for writing a pamphlet titled, The Necessity of Atheism. His parents were
severely disappointed in him and demanded that he forsake all of his beliefs.
Soon after this, he eloped with a 16-year-old woman, Harriet Westbrook, whom
he soon tired. It was at this time that Shelley began writing his long-form
poetry, for which he is best known.

Shelley had two children with Harriet, but before their second was born, he left
her for the future author of Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, Mary
Godwin. Mary became pregnant with her and Shelley‟s first child soon after,
and Harriet sued Shelley for divorce. Soon after this, Mary and Percy met Lord
Byron or George Gordon. It was through one of their meetings that Mary was
inspired to write Frankenstein.

In 1816 Shelley‟s first wife Harriet committed suicide, and Mary and Percy
were officially wed. During their time together, Mary Shelley‟s only child to
live into adulthood was Percy Florence. In early 1818 he and his wife left
England and Shelley produced the majority of his most well-known works
including, Prometheus Unbound. In 1822, not long before he was meant to turn
30, Shelley was drowned in a storm while sailing in his schooner on the way to
La Spezia, Italy. Mary was only 24 at the time and would live to the age of 53,
dying of brain cancer in London in 1851.

FAQs

Who is the speaker in ‘To a Skylark?’

It‟s unclear who exactly the speaker is in „To a Skylark.‟ There is very little
information provided. It could be a man or a woman, but it is revealed that they
are an artist of some sort, or perhaps a poet. This suggests that the speaker could
be Shelley himself.

What is the tone of ‘To a Skylark?’

The tone in „To a Skylark‟ is happy and wonder-filled. The speaker spends the
lines celebrating the skylark and the emotions it makes them feel.
What is the purpose of ‘To a Skylark?’

The purpose is to engage with natural imagery and share its beauty and wonder
with readers. Those who read this poem should walk away feeling as though
they, too, have seen and heard what the speaker did.

What is the mood of ‘To a Skylark?’

The mood is blissful and joyful. Readers should enjoy the way the speaker
marvels at the bird and the other related natural imagery. They may leave this
poem with a new feeling of peace.