On Watching the Flight of a Skylark
Upward and upward still!--in pearly lightThe clouds are steep’d! the vernal spirit sighsWith bliss in every wind, and crystal skiesWoo thee, O bird! to thy celestial height.Bird, piercing heaven with music! thy free flightHath meaning for all bosoms; most of allFor those wherein the rapture and the mightOf poesy lie deep, and strive, and burn,For their high place. O heirs of genius! learnFrom the sky’s bird your way! No joy may fillYour hearts, no gift of holy strength be wonTo bless your songs, ye children of the sun!Save by the unswerving flight, upward and upward still!
Words in this poem
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Watching the Flight of a Skylark is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, On Watching the Flight of a Skylark, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/on-watching-the-flight-of-a-skylark.html, id L19797.
Form and metre
On Watching the Flight of a Skylark is 13 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAA-ACCDEED lightA · sighsB · skiesB · heightA · flightA · all · mightA · burnC · learnC · fillD · wonE · sunE · stillD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Upward and upward still!--in pearly light | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| The clouds are steep’d! the vernal spirit sighs | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| With bliss in every wind, and crystal skies | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Woo thee, O bird! to thy celestial height. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Bird, piercing heaven with music! thy free flight | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| Hath meaning for all bosoms; most of all | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For those wherein the rapture and the might | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of poesy lie deep, and strive, and burn, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| For their high place. O heirs of genius! learn | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From the sky’s bird your way! No joy may fill | 10 | ·········· |
| Your hearts, no gift of holy strength be won | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To bless your songs, ye children of the sun! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Save by the unswerving flight, upward and upward still! | 13 | ···˘/˘·/˘·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.