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영어

Shelley thinks the fair order has broken down in his time and argues that the poet’s role is to correct this phenomenon through poetry. Shelley aspires to live in a society where a poet’s status, which he elevates to that of a legislator, or agent or representative of the governed, can be fully realized. He dreams of a world where a poet is acknowledged as a legislator. This aspiration is expressed in all of his poems, most prominently in ‘To a Skylark.’ In the poem, Shelly defines the “Skylark” as the ‘Spirit of Poetry’ that symboizes a world filled with complete joy. Comparing the “Poet,” a character in this poem with a “Skylark” from the narrator’s viewpoint, Shelley traces a poet’s identity as a legislator. This is a proess of exploring whether the “Poet” in this poem can achieve the complete joy symbolized by the “Skylark” and simultaneouly establish a poet’s status as an acknowledged legislator. Shelley confesses the “Poet” in ‘To a Skylark’ is an “unacknowledged legislator.” This confession is his candid acknowledgment of the status of the poet in his time. At the same time, he longs for an era in which poets become acknowledged legislator in this poem. Even if Shelley’s aspiration is a “magnificent fantasy,” his great aspiration to change the world with his imagination makes us solemn.