Poet

In a poem seemingly devoted to praising this heavenly lark, Shelley makes a series of connections between himself, the poet, and the high-winging bird. "Teach us, Sprite or Bird,What sweet thoughts are thine" (lines) he implores the bird, in a phrase strangely echoing his own desires for his words to be so wanted, so needed. In Ode to the West Wind Percy appeals to the wind to disseminate his words: "Scatter, as from an unextinguish'd hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawaken'd earth" (lines). Here in To a Skylark it is the bird whose song "panted forth a flood of rapture so divine," but Shelley praises the bird by comparing it to a poet, drawing the reader again to consider the similarities between the singer of"unpremeditated art" and the lowly, grounded poet.

Shelley lauds the bird's song as unlike any earthly melodies: "Better than all measuresOf delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!" (lines)
Then he begs on the lark:"Teach me half the gladnessThat thy brain must know,Such harmonious madnessFrom my lips would flowThe world should listen then, as I am listening now." (lines)
Shelley clearly desires to be a master of the bird's "unpremeditated art" and even more strongly he wants to captivate the world the way the lark's song has captured his soul. In both To a Skylark and Ode to the West Wind Shelley envys nature's power to speak to the human soul. He wishes his poetry were as strong and moving as the wind and as beautiful and captivating as the lark's song.