Similies in Shelleys To a Skylark
“TO A SKYLARK” BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY In the poem “To a Sky Lark,” Percy Bysshe Shelley uses four important similes to connect the sky lark’s song to the human senses. Each simile creates an image of the skylark’s song through vivid comparisons. ... In expressing the beauty of the skylark’s song Shelley’s first simile compares it to a poet’s words by writing; “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.” Shelley’s first comparison of the skylark’s song suggests that it resembles the legacy that a poet leaves in the words of his writings. ... This expresses a sense of immortality, in the poet’s words which will exist forever once written, and in the song of the skylark because birds will forever sing the same song. By using this simile, Shelley connects the legacy of the skylark with the legacy of the legacy of the poet’s words.