To the Skylark (William Wordsworth)

The poem is highly characteristic of the genius and temperament of Wordsworth. Unlike Shelley, Wordsworth does not lose sight of bird in its song; it is to him a creature of flesh and blood and not an abstraction. His skylark is true to the life on earth. Wordsworth describes its manners and habits with perfect fidelity. The bird is no scorner of the ground like its counterpart as depicted by Shelley. “The firm grasp of Wordsworth’s thoughts gives the green earth her due share in the ethereal minstrel’s rapture and bids us observe that it is not the distance from the earth but the nearness to it which inspires the celestial joy.

The poem strikes a deep moral note. The grand lesson that the poem seeks to inculcate is that “fidelity to the kindred points of heaven and home makes bolt earth the more joyous and heaven the more sublime. The skylarks daily habit is conceived as a parable of the right mode of life.

In purely artistic qualities, the poem reaches a high level of excellence. Though the opening invocation is conventional and is in the manner of the 18th century ode writers, the poet’s originality soon bursts forth. The diction acquires a dignity and the loftiness of thought. The bald and colloquial style of the earlier poems of the poet is left behind and the expression is a heightened one. The solemn and stately movement of the lines is in perfect consonance with the thought of a meditative watcher. The concluding couplet has become a classic because of the beauty of thought and terseness of expression.

The idea of the poem is summed up in the concluding couplet. The poet draws from the habit of the skylark a deep moral which is equally applicable to human conduct. The skylark soars high in the sky but at all times its mind and eyes are fixed on the nest below. Similarly, a truly wiseman is he who lives and moves in the sphere of lofty thoughts but his Philosophy does not make him blind to the ordinary duties of common life. Plain living and high thinking are the keynotes to the character of the great ones on the earth. In Wordsworth’s ideal of wisdom heaven and home are allied together in a common appeal, a combination of steadiness and sublimity heaven being are production of home from a loftier point of view.

The poet addresses the skylark as “ethereal minstrel” because for the most part of the day, it keeps on flying high up in the sky. While flying in the sky, it produces music by the movement of its wings. Again, it has been addressed as “pilgrim of the sky” because it makes a journey to the upper regions of the sky. It hates earthly life because it is full of cares. But while it moves in the upper regions of the sky, its heart and eyes are always on the ground where its young ones are taking rest in its nest. When the skylark starts coming down its wings are composed. As a result of this, its music becomes silent. The music of the skylark is prompted by its love for its young ones. By virtue of its sweet music, it delights the people living on the earth. Its music delights the people living on the earth. Its music is superior to that of nightingale and cuckoo. While nightingale and cuckoo sing only in the spring season, the skylark’s music is heard throughout the year. While nightingale and cuckoo live in the darkness of the forest, the skylark lives in the glorious light of sky in day. From there, it brings a flood of harmony on the earth. The skylark is a type of wise bird which flies to heaven and “home” at the same time. The poet describes:

“Type of the wise who soär, but never roam,

True to the kindred points of heaven and home.”

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