The lark’s resonance : symbolic reverberations in Shakespearean imagery and its legacy

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to explore the inspirational song of the lark that reverberates across centuries of English literature, with a special focus on the bird’s flight through William Shakespeare’s writings. Shakespeare, of course, makes reference to a variety of different birds throughout his works, but his frequent invocations of the lark expose a special fondness for this particular bird. The Introductory Chapter delves into an exploration of the legacy that Shakespeare inherits when he invokes the bird in his works. An examination of the literary origins of the songbird, reveals its emergence, particularly in English literature, as the nightingale’s ‘other’. Therefore, to fully grasp the poetic tradition of the lark, it becomes necessary to consider the origins and symbolic significance of its opposite entity. Furthermore, the notions of tradition and influence, as theorised by T. S. Eliot and later Harold Bloom, become interwoven with this exploration. Chapter 2 delves into an examination of the various contexts in which we find Shakespeare’s lark imagery. The chapter seeks to answer these two main questions: what traditions does Shakespeare follow or abandon in his invocations of the singing bird? In what ways does he modify his precursors’ poetic tradition linked to the lark, to suit his own imaginative and artistic purposes? The Concluding Chapter seeks to show the enduring legacy of the lark; that the bird still sings and inspires poets to this day. The chapter focuses on two contemporary poets’ treatment of the songbird, namely, Ted Hughes and Andrew Motion’s. Prior to our consideration of the lark’s contemporary song, however, an exploration of what the Romantic poets transform the poetic bird into proves necessary.