Percy Shelley’s way with lyrics caused me to read it multiple times before I really knew what to elaborate on. Shelley’s definition of a poet is portrayed through her piece titled, “To a Sky-Lark”. She argues that a sky-lark and a poet, among other things, go hand in hand.
“What thou are we know not; / What is most like thee? /From the rainbow clouds there flow not/Drops so bright to see/As from thy presence showers a rain of melody:—/ 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…”(402)
She goes on to display others’ talents that have no comparisons. Shelley refers to “a high-born maiden”, “a glow worm”, “a rose” and “vernal showers” along with their worldly purposes. Once she introduces all those who are like no other, the speaker goes on to take emphasis on the motive for the sky-lark to even want to sing something so heavenly. Shelley displays determination to discover the meaning behind such beauty being illustrated vocally. She questions: “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?” (403) These queries were more overwhelming than anything, in my opinion. In the quest to uncover what makes others happy, the result is accepting the fact that the individual is happy at all, “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”.(404)
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Bianca,
ReplyDeleteI agree that Shelley is a very challenging poet. Note, however, that Percy Shelley is not female--he is male, and was married to Mary Shelley (who wrote the novel Frankenstein). Good quotations from his "To a Sky-Lark," but once again you tend to quote extensively but do not follow it up with sufficient analysis or discussion. You need to use these posts to let your readers know what you think about the poems, and why, not just to quote passages for your readers to think about on their own.