The speaker begins by calling out to the skylark in praise, “hailing” it. The speaker then claims that the skylark was never merely a bird, as its spectacular song originates from the far, divine reaches of the sky.
The speaker’s early language choices suggest that nature contains great spiritual power. The skylark itself is called “Spirit,” and the speaker refers to the upper portions of the sky as “Heaven.” Both of these words are capitalized, which draws the reader’s attention to them while also recalling the capitalization of pronouns related to divine beings in religious texts. The formality of the speaker’s language, including the use of “thy,” helps to elevate the skylark.
The speaker’s initial characterization of the skylark also highlights its emotions. The bird is “blithe,” or happy and without a care. The speaker states that the birdsong is an outpouring of the skylark’s “full heart,” suggesting passion. Moreover, the speaker accentuates the aesthetic impact of the bird's song by likening it to “strains” (the sound of music being performed) and “art.”
This stanza—and especially the last two lines—features chains of interlocking consonance:
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.
The dense groupings of /p/, /r/, /t/, and /s/ sounds reflect the skillful intricacy of the birdsong. In line 2, consonance and assonance combine to create slant rhymes (“Bird thou never wert”), drawing the reader’s attention to the otherworldly power of the skylark’s calls and increasing the poem’s musicality.
This stanza also establishes the poem’s song-like form. In particular, each stanza contains four lines of trochaic trimeter (six syllables in an alternating stressed-unstressed pattern) followed by one longer line of iambic hexameter (twelve syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern). The fact that most lines begin on a stressed beat gives the speaker’s address to the skylark an insistent, passionate feel. The rhythm might be said to reflect the bird’s flight—quickly flapping its wings before coasting along—or the lilts of its song. The poem also features an ABABB rhyme scheme that enhances the atmosphere of harmony and beauty.
Finally, the speaker directly addresses the skylark, who cannot respond—a technique known as apostrophe. As such, the audience witnesses a personal exchange, in which the speaker’s passions are aimed at their source. In this way, apostrophe heightens the poem’s emotional stakes. The use of the second person (in this case, “thee”) also gives the impression that the speaker is addressing the audience, building intimacy between the speaker and the reader. At the same time, apostrophe puts the audience in the bird’s place, subtly inviting the reader to identify with the bird. In short, the directness of the speaker’s pleas places the audience in the crosshairs of an emotional exchange.