Student Question
Could you provide a summary of "To A Skylark" by William Wordsworth, including its strengths and weaknesses?
UP with me! up with me into the clouds!
For thy song, Lark, is strong;
Up with me, up with me into the clouds!
Singing, singing,
With clouds and sky about thee ringing,
Lift me, guide me till I find
That spot which seems so to thy mind!
I have walked through wildernesses dreary
And to-day my heart is weary;
Had I now the wings of a Faery,
Up to thee would I fly.
There is madness about thee, and joy divine
In that song of thine;
Lift me, guide me high and high
To thy banqueting-place in the sky.
Joyous as morning
Thou art laughing and scorning;
Thou hast a nest for thy love and thy rest,
And, though little troubled with sloth,
Drunken Lark! thou would'st be loth
To be such a traveller as I.
Happy, happy Liver,
With a soul as strong as a mountain river
Pouring out praise to the Almighty Giver,
Joy and jollity be with us both!
Alas! my journey, rugged and uneven,
Through prickly moors or dusty ways must wind;
But hearing thee, or others of thy kind,
As full of gladness and as free of heaven,
I, with my fate contented, will plod on,
And hope for higher raptures, when life's day is done.
Quick answer:
"To a Skylark" captures the beauty and inspiration derived from a skylark's song, reflecting on nature's transformative power. The poem's strengths lie in its sustained mood, elevated tone, and insightful lines, like "We look before and after, / And pine for what is not," which highlight humanity's struggle with time. However, some language feels excessive, and the poem occasionally overreaches beyond its subject, potentially making the bird seem overly significant.
"To a Skylark" describes the sight and sound of a bird singing. From that
immediate description, the narrator moves on to reflecting on the role of
nature in humanity's life, and how it can change people. The strong points of
the poem are the sustained mood, the elevated tone, and some of line sequences,
which are quite nice. Consider this sequence, for example:
"We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:"
This sums up humanity's relationship to time and inability to live in the moment.
As for weaknesses, some of the language is a stretch ("Bird thou never wert"!),
and it seems to reach too far beyond the moment. (It's just a bird, after
all.)
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