Ode to the West Wind - P. B. Shelly

 

Eden - Part II English - II Year UG

[alert-success] ODE TO THE WEST WIND - P.B. SHELLY 

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        Persy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” is one of the finest odes in English Language. It was published in 1820 by Charles in London. The poem was written in response to the loss of Shelly’s son William in 1819. This ode contains five stanzas: four three-line stanzas and a two-line couplet in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is terza rima – ABA BCB CDC DED EE. 

Shelly in the first three stanzas of the poem describes the activities of the west wind in land, sky and sea. On the land, the wind drives away dead leaves and disperses seeds. The wind act as a destroyer and preserver. In the second stanza, Sheely describes how the west wind reaches the sky and scatters the clouds and causes lightning rain. Shelly, then summons this powerful wind to listen to him. 

The wind with its power scatters the loose clouds and brings the fierce storms.  In this section, the west wind is described as a deadly force. In the third stanza, the poem turns from the sky to the sea. The poet celebrates the wind’s power. It awakens the Mediterranean Sea. The wind can split the ocean as easy as the clouds in the sky. The sapless foliage, the landscape and everything is disturbed by the wind. This is the greatness of the west wind. 

The poet then laments in the fourth section that he wants to be like a leaf, or a cloud, or a wave. He prays to the west wind to lift him up as a wave a leaf, a cloud. As an adult, he is burdened by life. He years for the freedom by the power of the west find. In the final stanza, the poet offers a different prayer to the west wind. He wants the wind to make him lyre, a musical instrument. He prays to the west wind to scatter his dead thoughts across the universe to inspire something new and exciting. 

The poet prays that this poem is a prayer that scatters ashes and sparks the human race. He concludes in an optimistic note by saying

“…my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawaken'd earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

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