Percy Shelley’s Experiences with the Skylark’s Song

Hellen Keller once said, “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties,” (Keller,2001). Life is full of happy moments, but it seems that a lingering sense of despair always follows them. It is as if pure happiness has all but vanished from Earth. However, Percy Shelley argues that true happiness can still be found if one looks past the harshness of the world and beyond worldly possessions. When Shelley was out for a walk one day he heard a carefree skylark whistling its melodic tune through the sky and that moment instilled such joy in him, he felt he had to share it with the rest of the world. That instance is what inspired one of his most famous poems, To a Skylark. The poem explains that the skylark is a beautiful creature, but it is the flawless song of the bird that makes it an everlasting symbol of happiness and perfection (Gradesaver, 2012). Through the poem Shelley provides readers with a glimpse into his world by using vivid imagery, the freedom and joy symbolized by the skylark and the showing his desire to be free of a monotonous life.
Shelley uses a variety of sensual imagery in his poem to help readers understand how he perceived the skylark. The imagery appeals to all the senses of a reader so they can hear, see and feel what he experienced when he saw the bird. Shelley always believed that the skylark was an otherworldly creature and its songs were “profuse strains of unpremeditated art”, (l. 5). Therefore, it made it difficult for the average person to relate to them. He decided that the only way any one would be able to relate to the songs is by comparing them to real life experiences. As a result, most of the poem’s imagery is found in the comparisons. The visual imagery Shelley uses describes the skylark’s actions and appearance: “Higher still and higher/ From the earth thou springest,/ Like a cloud of fire;/ The blue deep thou wingest,/ And singing