Ans: “To a Skylark” is a celebrated poem by P.B Shelley who is a prominent poet of the romantic era. In the poem, Shelley applied/used imagery very successfully to convey his ideas. In fact, the poem abounds with dazzling images. The images are effectively used to explain the theme of the poem clearly. They are characterized by their boldness and splendor. Indeed, the poem contains a series of images that have added to the beauty and charm of the poem. A critical analysis is needed to trace imagery in the poem.

Literally, imagery means imaginative language that produces pictures in the mind of people reading or listening. It conveys a word picture. It evokes an imaginative, emotional response as well as provides a vivid, specific description.

Shelley’s “To a Skylark” is a great poem that shows his consummate skill in manipulating concrete abstract duality of imagery. The very first line of the poem starts with addressing Skylark as a blithe spirit rather than a bird for its song comes from Heaven and from its full heart pour “profuse strains of unpremeditated art”. The poet says —

“Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!
Bird thou never wert….. of unpremeditated art.”

The skylark flies higher in the sky. Its upward flight is compared to a cloud of fire. The bird looks like a swirling flame in the sky in its constant upward movement.

As the bird flies high into the sky, out of our sight but still its song reaches our ears. The bird is “like a star of Heaven” unseen in broad daylight. But it declares its presence through its loud song of joy. It is compared to the moon which is obscured by the sunlight in the morning. The poet compares the skylark to the moon and its music to the beams of the moon. As the rays of the moon flood the sky with light, similarly the music of the skylark floods the earth with its melody.

Further, the invisible skylark is compared to a poet immersed in the light of his own thoughts:

“Like a poet hidden
In the light of thought …
To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not.”

The skylark is like an aristocratic maiden of the medieval world of romance. The heart of the maiden is filled with the pain of separation because her lover is away. She soothes her love-sick heart with her sweet melody which fills her chamber. In the same way, the skylark pours out her heart’s feelings of love through her song that fills the earth.

Next, the poet compares the invisible skylark to the golden glow-worm while diffusing its light in the valley which is most with dew drops while remaining unseen. The glow-worm is hidden from sight though its golden light is seen. The poet says —

“ Like a glow-worm golden
In a dell of dew
Scattering unbeholden
Its aerial hue.”

The skylark is like a rose that spreads fragrance but no one sees the rose because it is hidden in thick foliage. Likewise, the melody of the unseen skylark overflows into the world below.

From the above discussion, we can say that P.B Shelley has used several images in the poem “To a Skylark” to idealize the bird and he is very successful to do so. There is no doubt to say that the superiority of the bird’s song is brought home in a series of vivid images and those images not only show the uniqueness of the poem but also the intensity and sophistication of the poet.