[ A note on sound: largely true for all British accents,
but especially obvious in RP.
In the title each syllable is pitched higher than the
previous one, mirroring the ascending notes in the
composer’s version of the lark’s song.
In the final stanza, variation in the natural pitch of the
vowels, and sometimes of whole syllables, echoes the rise and
fall of the melody in the final section of Vaughan Williams’
piece. In the phrase The lark rises the pitch of the
voice rises from low to mid-high. In the second line the
pitch of the beat-carrying vowels rises from very low to very high.
The third line has three successive falling cadences (of five, two
and three syllables respectively) each beginning at a higher
pitch than the start of the previous one.
The beat-carrying vowels of lines four and five rise steadily from
mid-pitch to very high (apart from an unavoidable
flicker downwards in the -endo of diminuendo).
In the last two lines the pitch of every syllable is high
or very high, slithering up in the final syllable
to the highest pitch of all.
No need to read unnaturally or with a ‘funny voice’ :
please just read aloud normally according to the meaning of the words! ]