# The Lofty Sky explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Edward Thomas.

## What happens

The speaker expresses a yearning for the open sky and high hills, away from the confines of woods and hedges, feeling trapped like a fish in muddy waters and longing to rise above.

## Themes in this chapter

### Solitude and Reflection

The speaker's desire for isolation and contemplation in the high hills, away from human habitation.

### Place and Belonging

The contrast between the confining woods and the liberating sky reflects a search for a place of belonging.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who desires the lofty sky and feels trapped among the woods.

## Key lines

> I sicken of the woods / And all the multitudes / Of hedge-trees.

I am weary of the forests and the countless hedgerow trees.

_Expresses the speaker's frustration with the enclosed landscape._

> I am like a fish that lives / In weeds and mud and gives / What’s above him no thought.

I am like a fish dwelling in weeds and mud, oblivious to the world above.

_Metaphor for the speaker's feeling of being trapped and unaware of higher possibilities._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters/the-lofty-sky
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters