skylark

The skylark appears in The Secret Garden as a creature of the moor whose song embodies the wild, free, and joyful spirit of the landscape that gradually heals Mary Lennox and Colin Craven. Though never seen directly by the children in the narrative, the skylark is invoked by Martha Sowerby and her brother Dickon as a living emblem of the moor's beauty and of the springtime renewal that transforms the secret garden. Its presence in their speech links the human world of the manor to the vast, open moor and to the natural cycles of growth and song that become central to the story's themes of health, life, and magic.

The Skylark in Martha's Description of the Moor

Martha Sowerby first mentions the skylark when she describes the moor to Mary Lennox on the morning after Mary's arrival at Misselthwaite Manor. Martha, a Yorkshire housemaid who loves the moor, tells Mary that in spring and summer the moor is "fair lovely" when the gorse, broom, and heather are in flower, and that "th' sky looks so high an' th' bees an' skylarks makes such a nice noise hummin' an' singin'." This description places the skylark among the sounds of the moor that Martha cherishes, contrasting sharply with Mary's initial hatred of the bleak landscape. The skylark's song is part of the sensory richness that Martha uses to persuade Mary that the moor is not bare but full of life, and it foreshadows the healing power of the natural world that Mary will soon discover.

The Skylark in Dickon's World

Dickon Sowerby, Martha's brother and a boy who lives in harmony with nature, also speaks of the skylark. When Mary first meets Dickon, he tells her about the moor and its creatures, and the skylark is part of his intimate knowledge of the wild. Later, when Colin Craven asks about the Doxology, Dickon says that his mother, Susan Sowerby, believes "th' skylarks sings it when they gets up i' th' mornin'." This connection between the skylark's song and a hymn of praise reinforces the idea that the natural world itself is a form of worship and that the skylark's music is a pure, instinctive expression of joy. Dickon's understanding of the skylark, like his understanding of all wild things, is based on patient observation and a sense of kinship rather than on books or formal learning.

The Skylark as a Symbol of Spring and Renewal

The skylark is most closely associated with the coming of spring and the transformation of the secret garden. When Mary tells Colin about the moor and Dickon's world, she describes how Dickon talks about the skylark soaring and singing, and how his words make her feel as if she were "standing in the heather with the sun shining and the gorse smelling like honey—and all full of bees and butterflies." The skylark's song is part of the sensory tapestry of the moor that Colin, confined to his room, has never experienced. When Colin finally enters the secret garden and begins to recover, the skylark's song is implicitly part of the "fluting and twittering and singing" that fills the air. The bird's upward flight and joyful song mirror Colin's own rising spirits and his declaration that he will "live forever and ever and ever." The skylark thus becomes a symbol of the life force that the children discover in the garden and in themselves.

Narrative Significance

The skylark functions in the novel as a marker of the moor's vitality and of the children's growing connection to the natural world. It is never a character in the plot, but its song is a recurring motif in the speech of Martha and Dickon, who serve as guides to the moor's beauty. For Mary, hearing about the skylark helps her to see the moor not as a dreary wasteland but as a place teeming with life. For Colin, the skylark represents a world of health and joy that he has been denied. The bird's association with the Doxology also links the natural world to a sense of gratitude and praise, reinforcing the novel's theme that the "Magic" of growth and healing is a kind of divine force. The skylark, like the robin, is one of the creatures that populate the children's imagination and draw them out of their isolation into a shared experience of the living world.