565. From To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley

PB Shelley read by Classic Poetry Aloud:

http://classicpoetryaloud.podomatic.com/

Giving voice to the poetry of the past.

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from To a Skylark

by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

Bird thou never wert—

That from heaven or near it

Pourest thy full heart

In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

Higher still and higher

From the earth thou springest,

Like a cloud of fire;

The blue deep thou wingest,

And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

In the golden light'ning

Of the sunken sun,

O'er which clouds are bright'ning,

Thou dost float and run,

Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun.

First aired: 21 August 2007

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