"hear him, hear him..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
The repetition of “hear him, hear him” implores readers to listen to the songs of a skylark in nature, the bird’s “babble” suggesting joyous songs that tumble one into another. “Drop down to his nest” is antithetical to the image in the octave of the caged skylark’s “droop[ing] deadly” in a “cell.”
"Not that the sweet-fowl, song-fowl, needs no rest —
..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
“The Caged Skylark” is an example of a Petrarchan sonnet with an octave of 8 lines followed by a 6-line sestet. This line marks the beginning of the sestet and a change of theme as the poem’s analogy is finalized. The “sweet-fowl, song-fowl” refers not to the caged skylark but to a skylark free in the natural world.
"Both sing sometímes..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
Hopkins continues to develop the poem’s analogy in this line. Despite their circumstances, both the skylark and the spirit sometimes “sing,” suggesting that an essential part of themselves longs for expression.
"aloft on turf or perch or poor low stage..."See in text(Text of the Poem)
The skylark sits on the “turf” at the bottom of its cage or on the perch within the cage, whereas the spirit within the body occupies a “poor low stage,” referring to living in the world. The description underscores the similarity between the caged skylark and the restrained spirit in that both are imprisoned by their circumstances.
With this line, Hopkins establishes an analogy that is developed throughout the poem: the soul confined within a physical body is like a skylark confined in a cage. The soul is a “mounting spirit,” suggesting that if unrestrained, it would rise up to heaven, just as the skylark, if uncaged, would soar.
