"To a Skylark" contains several examples of anaphora. The most prominent use of this device begins in line 36, when the speaker uses the phrase "Like a" to introduce a series of similes that describe the skylark and its calls.
The bird is likened to a poet, an aristocratic young woman, an insect, and a flower. The repeated phrase links these figures and objects, which at first seem to have little in common. In doing so, anaphora highlights the interconnectedness of all living things.
By inviting the audience to compare these various images, their similarities come into focus. In particular, each simile describes a plant or creature that is hidden away and has some beautiful natural gift, which it distributes throughout its environment. The use of anaphora creates a unified representation of all the skylark's skills, which are showered onto the earth although the bird is high in the sky, shielded from view.
In lines 71-75, the speaker again uses anaphora while asking the skylark a series of questions about the inspiration behind its song, repeating "What [...]?" The speaker's inquiries are literally stacked on top of one another, creating the impression of a "pile-up" of questions. In this way, anaphora displays how overcome with bewilderment the speaker is in the face of the powerful birdsong. The repetition of "what" also places insistence or urgency behind the speaker's pleas, allowing the audience to feel the speaker's intense desire to learn from the bird.
The last two instances of anaphora generally serve to differentiate the bird's calls from human forms of communication. Lines 88-90 describe how even "our sincerest laughter" and "our sweetest songs" are stained with suffering. The repetition of the collective pronoun "our" emphasizes that these flaws are not unique to the speaker, but rather, they burden all human communications.
Finally, in lines 96-99, the speaker claims that, to poets, the birdsong is greater than any other sound or text. Here, the repetition of the phrase "better than all" drives home the speaker's point that the skylark's song transcends all human communication, even that composed by the most trained ear.
In general, anaphora also accentuates the regularity of the poem's meter, as the repetition of a word or phrase yields a repeating stress pattern. In this way, anaphora contributes to the poem's harmonious, song-like feel, in turn highlighting the beauty of the skylark's calls.