English Literature / Unit 13 ENL 1210 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"To a Skylark"
Captions available
The idea
"To a Skylark," completed in eighteen twenty after an evening walk near Livorno, hails the bird as a spirit, "Bird thou never wert," whose unpremeditated song exceeds human art. Humans cannot match its joy: "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
In practice
A bird as pure joy.
Where people slip
The lark is ideal; human song is mixed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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