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English Romantic Poets Lyric Philosophical Poets

1) Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote "Ode to the West Wind" in 1819 to promote revolution and social change. 2) The poem uses the west wind as a symbol of the spreading of ideas that can enlighten people and spur them to fight oppression. 3) In the last stanza, Shelley calls on the west wind to spread his words like leaves, hoping his message of equality and brotherhood will reach more people.

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121 views2 pages

English Romantic Poets Lyric Philosophical Poets

1) Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote "Ode to the West Wind" in 1819 to promote revolution and social change. 2) The poem uses the west wind as a symbol of the spreading of ideas that can enlighten people and spur them to fight oppression. 3) In the last stanza, Shelley calls on the west wind to spread his words like leaves, hoping his message of equality and brotherhood will reach more people.

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About the author

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets. he


is regarded by some as among the finest lyric and philosophical poets in
the English language.
Introduction
This pem was written in 1819. The poem's purpose is to bring about a
revolution and change the way society lives. Shelley uses the wind as a
symbol of the flow of information that enlightens the people and urges
them to fight against oppression
Summary
In "Ode to the West Wind," Shelley conveys the message that he would
like the words he writes on leaves of paper to be scattered as far and
wide as the West Wind scatters the leaves that fall from the trees in
autumn. The speaker stated the West Wind drives away the last sign of
life in trees and also helps to rejuvenate the world by allowing the seeds
to grow in the spring. In this way, the West Wind acts as both a
"destroyer and preserver." it acts as a driving force for change and
rejuvenation in the human and natural world and its symbol of
revolution.
The speaker begins the poem by addressing the Wild West Wind &
quickly introduces the theme of death and compares the dead leaves to
ghosts. He wants the wind to assert it's power onto him so that he can be
as wild and free as the wind itself.The speaker wants to go back in time
to when he and the wind were "comrades" and he felt he could be faster
and overpower the wind. the speaker ends with the hyperbole "I fall
upon the thorns of life! I bleed!" He explains how the trials and
tribulations of life has weighed down on him and left him hurt. He
wishes he could have the "tameless, and swift, and proud vigor of his
youth" and keep his revolutionary spirit.
In this poem, Shelley, a radical, is feeling some despair. He believed in
the ideals of the French Revolution, but that revolution had been
defeated. England, too, seemed further away than ever from going in
radical direction. The message of equality and brotherhood Shelley
believed in seemed not to be reaching the world.
In the last stanza of the poem, Shelley calls on the West Wind to spread
his word. He wants the wind to spread the music of his words and asks if
his written words are falling like leaves from forest trees. The speaker
finally begins to identify his weakness compared to the wind

Structure
Poem is written in iambic pentameter, contains five stanzas - four three-
line stanzas and a two-line couplet.
Rhyme scheme follows terza rima, the three line rhyme scheme
employed by Dante and his Divine Comedy.
Tone
Tone of this poem is that of hope and expectation, the speaker has a
strong belief in the strength of the West Wind and wants the Wind to
hear him and spread his word.

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