Why do you think the writer has chosen the skylark to be the object of his writing? How will you apply the message to your own real life situation?

Shelley's choice of a skylark is an example of how the poet identifies a natural setting and applies it to his own life.  In doing so, Shelley has been able to link the human experience to a natural one.  The choice of the skylark is significant.  Initially, Shelley is struck by the song of the skylark, moved to a specific point in recognition of the bird's beautiful song:  "That from heaven or near it/ pourest thy heart/ In profuse strains of unpremeditated art."  The comparison between the notion of perfection in art expressed in such a simple experience as the singing of the skylark's song is a powerful one for Shelley.  In his mind, such an expression that is both natural and perfect is the end goal for all artists, and most of all, himself.  This becomes the driving force in the poem, an ode to something that he knows is there, yet cannot grasp, see, or touch.  Shelley uses the skylark to represent his own sense of artistic perfection and drive for the best in the development of his own art.  The poem's message lies in the many ways that Shelley feels that the skylark represents perfection in the purest form.  In describing this beauty, Shelley hopes to model his own artistic conception as one of perfection.  The skylark inspires him and his hope is that in explaining its beauty, the reader can appreciate Shelley's artistic prowess.  This has real world applications in its inspirational value.  Any person who is driving for success sees something, anything, as inspirational and this is what represents what they do and why they do it.  The ability for Shelley to see inspiration in the song and flight of the skylark is a similar experience for anyone who seeks inspiration to make their own endeavors come closer to a realm of "unpremeditated art."