English 110
Chris Dowling
Benson Zeng
10/30/2017
An Analysis of “Ode to the West Wind” during the Period of Romanticism
Ode to the West Wind is an ode written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous English Romantic poet who rebelled against English politics and conservative values. Shelley drew no essential distinction between poetry and politics, and his work reflected the radical ideas and revolutionary optimism of the era. Shelley’s joy, his magnanimity, his faith in humanity, and his optimism are unique among the Romantics; his expression of those feelings makes him one of the most significant writers in the early nineteenth century in English. Throughout all the life of Shelley, he wrote a number of allegorical poems. His lyrics are the best known among the English poets, in which the most well known is the “Ode To The West Wind”. In the turbulent year of 1819, Shelley wrote many political lyrics. “Ode To The West Wind” is the most representative of Shelley’s feelings and thoughts at that time and the thesis aims to analyze the symbols of the images and the cultural context they reflect.
From the poem we can see many images are used, such as “the dead leaves, the cloud and the wave”, and they all help to describe the west wind’s power. Therefore, to get the full understanding of the poem we must know the background when Shelley wrote the poem. “Ode to the West Wind” was written in 1819 when he was living in Italy and at that time the Europe faced a great social change. In that year, European labor movement and the revolutionary movement surged. To fight for their right, British working class began to struggle with the bourgeoisie. At August of that year, 80,000 workers in Manchester held a massive demonstration. Of course, the reactionary authorities had dispatched army to suppress. For Shelley was in favour of British revolution, he was expelled from the United Kingdom. Then he came to Italy and met Keats, who had great influence to him. It was in the autumn of that year. He met with the storm. It was said by Shelley that the day was warm originally, but suddenly the west wind became turbulent and the sky was covered with dark clouds. At dusk, the rainstorm and hail were all over the place. So he got the inspiration from this theme and wrote this popular poem. May be due to this, his poem can be so real and grand. He related natural phenomena with the politics and his whole life. He wanted to encourage those struggles for freedom. At the same time, he expressed the hope that its words will inspire and influence those who read or hear it. He wanted his message of reform and revolution spread, and the wind became the trope for spreading the word of change through the poet-prophet figure. The poem was a lyric poem that addressed the west wind as a powerful force and asked it to scatter the poet’s words throughout the world. From the above, we can easily see that in Britain there was no freedom and it is the natural landscape that triggers the poet’s passion. Under this circumstance, the poet wrote this poem to convey the spirit of the times and it is safe to say that anyone who read the poem will be inspired and influenced by it. As Shelley wanted the belief of reform and revolution to be heard, the wind became the horn to call people to fight for their freedom. Meanwhile the poem is also a lyric poem in which the poet turns to the west wind for help, treating it as a kind of of symbol that stands for the moral and the spirit, it can give people power. In addition, the various applications of rhetoric methods make the poem more impressive and vivid.
This poem consists of five cantos. And it can be divided into two parts: the first three cantos and the last two cantos. The former part is an objective description. The dynamic force of the west wind is manifested in its power on the land. In the air, and in the season in a different season. It is the destroyer and the preserver. It will destroy the old world and heard in a new one. The latter canto of the poem is much more fluid than the former one. He begins to realize himself again. Shelley wishes that he was a leaf, a cloud, a wave, so that he could feel the power of the west wind; but he is aware of his age and his sufferings in life which have bent himself down. Finally, he appeals to the wind, the wind of aspiration and change, to reinvigorate him and to give force and persuasiveness to his poetry.
The following will make a comprehensive analysis of this poem in the following and state the symbolic meanings of the images under the cultural context. In the first canto, west wind crushes dry weeds and smashes rotten woods on land, sweeps the seeds into earth at the same time, and the poet highlights it as the destroyer and preserver. The withered leaves and the west wind are the main images. However, one must not think of this ‘Ode’ as an optimistic praise of the wind; it is clearly associated with autumn. Here, “the leaves dead” represent the British reactionary classes, the west wind blows the desperate scene and it brings hope at the same time. On the one hand, the poet present the strength of the wind, on the other hand, it emphasizes the poet’s hope that passion and optimistic future will toward the revolution. In the second canto, Shelley changes his perspective. He begins to describe the changes of sky in the wind, the west wind sweeps the residual cloud in the air, and brings out the storm clouds. The second canto of the poem is much more fluid than the first one. The poet employs the following images: cloud, rain, and lighting. Angels of rain and lighting is rightly the storm of revolution brought by the west wind, here through the application of personification, it express the majestic momentum of the west wind. The poet regards the rain and lighting as angels, which symbolize good things. The west wind gives the poet light. In the last sentence, the poet combines the wind with black rain, fire and hail to show that the elimination of the old force is consequent and the revolution is an absolute success.
As for the second part, the poet’s emotions changed greatly. In the third canto, Shelley begins to write the ocean. The poet mainly chants the west wind, carefully describes the power of the west wind in land, sea and air. Here, the blue Mediterranean symbols the rulers of the time, but they are sleeping in the beautifully scenery, in the crystalline streams, in the azure moss and flowers. Therefore, this part further shows the powerful strengths of break of the west wind. From the last two rows, we can see the old power will perish. This part, the poet combine the main image, the west wind, with seawater, huge waves and old palace to express that the old world must be replaced by the new world. It is the storm of nature, and it is also the storm of revolution. Shelley predicts the storm of nature, and he also predicts the storm of revolution. Thus, he expresses his ambition of revolution in the last cantos. The view of his is changed. In the fourth canto, he begins with “If I were a dead leaf thou mightiest bear”, and then he uses several hypothesis in series. It conveys his hatred for the society and himself and it is what he wants to say about his deepest expectation. With turning the point, Shelley turn from “Ode to The West Wind” to express emotions, to convey his willing to dance with the west wing. The poet express his yearning for meeting the windstorm as the flying withered leaves in the wind, floating clouds and tumbling waver did. The poet expresses his wish to join the revolution to overthrow the old forces. Even if the poet will suffer a lot in misery, he still wants to do it. Only the wind accepts him, can he bear any suffering. This is the heart of the poet. In the last canto, the emotion is stronger. He hates the society and himself, so he prays for the wind “Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is”. Please give me the spirit, “Be thou me, impetuous one”. “Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth”. So, if winter comes, can spring be far behind. He expects the new life born in the revolution. It pronounce to people the result of the west wind as a destroyer and preserver, which is that dark will soon pass, light is in sight. The wind symbolizes the regeneration which follows the destruction and death of winter, the wind of spirit and inspiration, the destructive and revolutionary energies that had been seen in Europe, as well as an abstract expression or manifestation of the spirit within nature. It expresses Shelley’s optimistic belief that the old world must go, a new world must come with the spring, filled with fresh sweet promises for suffering humanity. It anticipates the political triumph.This canto fully express the poet’s firm faith in revolution and optimism of revolution.
To sum up, the whole poem doesn’t directly describe the revolution but the reflect the cultural background of revolution all the way. In “Ode To The West Wind”, from the surface the poet seems to praise the west wind but actually he is expressing his view of the revolution. They need an act just like the west wind, in order to change and improve the natural and human world. From the things to the poet himself, the whole poem uses a lot of rhetoric methods, especially the symbolism. The poet uses his rich imagination and out lines the image of the west wind, aiming at weakening the mankind to fight against the old forces and create a new world where there is no oppression but only freedom. “Ode To The West Wind” is not only an autumn song but also a voice of times.
Works Cited
<https://www.shmoop.com/ode-to-west-wind/>
Kapstein, I. J. “The Symbolism of the Wind and the Leaves in Shelley’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’ ”. PMLA, Vol. 51, No. 4 (December 1936), pp. 1069–1079.