To a Skylark

“Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1820)

“Ode to the West Wind” was published in 1820, along with “To a Skylark” and Prometheus Unbound. The speaker of “Ode to the West Wind” addresses the wind in a comparable manner as the speaker of “To a Skylark” addresses the skylark; both use the apostrophe. Furthermore, the wind and skylark are both referred to as a “Spirit.” However, “Ode to the West Wind” is about the poet spreading ideas of change and revolution, while “To a Skylark” focuses on the song of the poet as inspired by nature and imagination.

“To the Skylark" by William Wordsworth (1827)

One of the first generation of British Romantic poets, Wordsworth also wrote a poem addressing the skylark. Wordsworth’s poem is much shorter than Shelley’s version: only 12 lines, as opposed to Shelley’s 105 lines. Both discuss the “music” of the bird, which it pours out in a “flood.” While Shelley’s skylark ascends high above the earth, Wordsworth questions if it “despise[s] the earth” (Line 2) because he considers the nest of the skylark a “Home” (Line 12) to which it is compelled to return.

“To the Moon” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1824)