Ode to the West Wind

[hayati]

Any thoughts on this poem?

It seems to me it's all about change. he seems to be suggesting that Autumn is vilent in nature, but necessarily so. It has to shake away everything from the old summer before any thought about a new year can begin.

He also seems to be asking for some of the same power of Autumn, power in his words, his work.

Is he arguing that change in society will have to be as brutal as Autumn, before anything as sweet as spring can happen?

I am thinking of studying this poem for an exam. basically I chose it because it features nature, and political change. I have to compare it with someone else in form, content, themes etc.

[sybilline]

The 5 paragraphs in the poem seem to form 5 sonnets, each one having 14 lines. There are two parts, the introduction of the "I" in the 4th paragraph creating a shift in the poem.
The idea that seems to govern the whole poem is the importance of the motion of the wind for Shelley, as the title clearly states it, and its dual aspect.
I can't comment the whole poem, but keep in mind that the wind is a kind of vital motion, a vital principle of life which participates to the cycle of time (seasons) and to the cycle of life (death, birth). It is dual (destroyer and preserver) and omnipresent (moving everywhere).
The wind is seen as being divine (angels, heaven), able to create by its power of diffusion (spread) and union. In fact, this power is imagination, because it is organic (interaction between things) and the poet would like it to act on himself, to turn his sadness into joy by the magical power of the words.

[Evey8]

Ode to the West wind is a meditation and reflection. It is also a celebration of the wind as a source of creative imagination. It is formed as a sustained apostrophe, where the poet addresses the west wind through three domains - the earth/land (stanza 1), the sky (stanza 2) and the ocean (stanza 3). Stanza 4 echoes the three preceeding stanzas, and here he introduces the "I" and starts to relating everything to himself. In line 55-56 he explains why: he feels that he has lost his abilities as a poet and he asks the wind for inspiration. Line 57 is particularly important. Here, he asks the wind to "make me thy lyre", and he sees himself played on by the wind. This clearly suggests the wind as creative inspiration, and he wants to absorb the force of the wind. He also wants the wind to spread his poetry, which becomes evident in lines 63-64. Anyway, that's my take on the poem..;)

[babychris123@ho]

Shelly's rhapsodic and declamatory fellings find a subject matter perfectly suited to them.The Autumn wind,burying the dead wind,preparing for the new Spring,to some extent becomes the symbol of Shelly himself.He eulogizes the powerfulness of the west wind and expresses his eagerness to enjoy the freedom from the reality.