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The Reader's Atlas · Compare · Romantic Skies

The WindhoverTo a Skylark

Put "The Windhover" by Gerard Manley Hopkins next to "To a Skylark" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and you quickly sense they share a similar premise: a poet outside observing a bird perform something remarkable in the sky, striving for a deeper understanding of the experience.

  • Poets

    Gerard Manley Hopkins / Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • Years

    —

  • Chapter

    Romantic Skies

§01 The thesis

The Windhover & To a Skylark

A reader's case for putting these two side by side — what each carries, and what they argue when they sit on the same page.

Shelley, writing in 1820, sees his skylark fade into the bright sky until it vanishes — a manifestation of pure sound, unfiltered joy, and complete liberation from the burdens that weigh on human existence. The bird is at its truest when it has completely abandoned the earth. In contrast, Hopkins, penning his poem in 1877 as a Jesuit novice, observes a kestrel skillfully navigating the morning wind with such breathtaking precision that the spectacle nearly shatters him. His bird reaches its peak glory at the moment it stoops — or "buckles," as he puts it — plunging back toward the ground. One poem seeks transcendence by escaping the physical realm; the other discovers transcendence by plunging back into it. This distinction isn't merely a question of style; it reflects deeper theological beliefs, poetic structures, and the different purposes each poet assigns to art.

§02 The dialectic axes

The two poems on four axes

Each axis isolates one specific vector — speaker, form, image, closing move — and reads the two poems against each other on that single dimension.

01Speaker

Poem A · The Windhover

Hopkins's speaker in "The Windhover" is a Jesuit priest who dedicates the poem to "Christ our Lord" in the subtitle. He isn't just a neutral observer. When the kestrel's beauty captivates him, it feels like a spiritual experience — the bird's skill reflects and reveals the mastery of Christ. The speaker's sense of wonder is deeply connected to his vocation.

Poem B · To a Skylark

Shelley's speaker in "To a Skylark" embodies the passionate, envious, and self-aware traits of the secular Romantic poet. He isn't searching for God in the bird; instead, he seeks an example of untainted creative joy, free from human sorrow. The line — "Teach me half the gladness / That thy brain must know" — serves as a request to art rather than to faith.
02Form

Poem A · The Windhover

"The Windhover" is a Petrarchan sonnet crafted in Hopkins's unique sprung rhythm, which emphasizes stressed syllables instead of traditional metrical feet. The lines are rich and intense, almost jarring in their sound — alliteration and internal rhyme accumulate until the structure itself resembles a bird straining against its limits. The volta at "Brute beauty and valour" shifts the poem into a new tone.

Poem B · To a Skylark

"To a Skylark" consists of 21 five-line stanzas with a lively, ascending rhythm—four short lines followed by a longer one—reflecting the bird's upward flight. While Hopkins's style is tight, Shelley's form is broad, building on each comparison he considers and then sets aside; this growing collection of images becomes the essence of the poem's argument.
03Central image

Poem A · The Windhover

The central image of "The Windhover" is the kestrel's stoop — the moment the bird stops gliding on the wind and dives down. Hopkins refers to this as "the achieve of, the mastery of the thing," connecting it to a ploughshare gleaming as it slices through the earth and to embers that shine brightest when they drop. The glory lies in the descent and impact.

Poem B · To a Skylark

The central image of "To a Skylark" is the bird vanishing into light. "Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun" — the skylark is at its fullest when it has blended into the sky and transformed into pure sound. Shelley's series of similes (star, maiden, glow-worm, rose) all convey this idea: each captures something beautiful that conceals its origin while radiating its impact.
04Closing move

Poem A · The Windhover

Hopkins concludes "The Windhover" by shifting focus from the bird to the embers and a ploughed field. He suggests that even the simplest, most damaged things partake in the same fire that the kestrel showed. This ending represents a form of theological democratization: glory exists everywhere, if you're willing to see it.

Poem B · To a Skylark

Shelley wraps up "To a Skylark" with a heartfelt plea: "Teach me half the gladness / That thy brain must know," expressing a deep desire for the joy that the skylark experiences. He believes that this joy would enable the world to pay attention to him as a poet. This conclusion reveals both yearning and ambition—Shelley seeks the bird's wisdom not only for personal happiness but also for the strength to create impactful poetry.

§03 Synthesis & departure

The shared ground and the divergence

Shared

Both poems feature a single bird as a means for the poet to express something indirectly. Neither Shelley nor Hopkins is focused on writing natural history. Instead, the skylark and the kestrel serve as triggers for reflections on beauty, human shortcomings, and the connection between the physical world and whatever lies beyond it. The poets also position themselves as observers rather than participants. The bird takes action while the poet watches and struggles to find the right words. Shelley employs a series of similes—hidden poet, glowing star, maiden in a tower, rose amid its leaves—acknowledging that none quite capture the essence. Hopkins distills this same sense of inadequacy into a single sonnet, allowing the poem's formal constraints to mirror the speaker's emotional tension. Both poems fit within the Romantic and post-Romantic tradition of lyric poetry: a speaker in nature, facing a crisis, and working toward some form of resolution or acceptance. They conclude with the poet seeking something from the bird—Shelley asks for a share of its joy, while Hopkins implicitly yearns for the courage that the falcon's mastery represents.

Where they diverge

The sharpest difference lies in the significance of the bird's body. In "To a Skylark," the bird's physical form feels almost like a burden. Shelley refers to it as "blithe Spirit" and then quickly adds "Bird thou never wert" — emphasizing that the true skylark is the song, not the creature itself. The bird's importance is only relevant to the extent that it has transcended the physical. Its invisibility against the bright sky is key: "Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight." For Shelley, joy exists beyond the visible. Hopkins takes a contrasting approach. The kestrel's prowess is deeply connected to its feathers, weight, and powerful dive. The poem's well-known line — "the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!" — celebrates a tangible action. When Hopkins shifts to the embers and the ploughed field in the sestet, he asserts that broken, everyday, earthly objects shine precisely because they are flawed and grounded. It's about embodiment, not escape. While Shelley's bird rises out of view, Hopkins's bird plunges into glory.

§04 A reader's order of operations

Which to read first

If you’re familiar with "To a Skylark," try reading "The Windhover" next. Shelley’s poem presents a lengthy and expansive take on the idea of the bird as a symbol of transcendence. In contrast, Hopkins condenses that same idea into fourteen lines, pushing the limits of what a sonnet can convey. Experiencing Hopkins after Shelley highlights the unique power of the sonnet form; the tight structure compels each word to carry greater significance, making the theological implications impossible to overlook. Together, these poems enhance each other's strangeness and depth. On the flip side, if you began with "The Windhover," you might find Shelley’s poem surprisingly laid-back — and that sense of relaxation itself makes a statement about the nature of transcendence that can be achieved.

§05 Reader's questions

On The Windhover vs To a Skylark, frequently asked

Answer

Yes, you'll often find British Romanticism and Victorian poetry paired together in survey courses. They fit well as they both use a bird to support a broader philosophical argument, yet they arrive at entirely different conclusions both theologically and in style.

§06 More from this chapter

Birds, winds, and the visionary gleam

9 comparisons in this chapter

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