Ode to the West Wind

"Ode to the West Wind"

"Ode to the West Wind," written by Percy Shelley, is a darkly melancholic poem referring to the devastation of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. In a time of seeming despair for many writers, and citizens alike, Shelley strives to use his skills to metaphorically depict this unfortunate time through nature, and the infamous "West Wind." In times like this, Shelley appreciates and boasts the work of poets, like his self, as seen in his "A Defence of Poetry." Through his representation of the west wind, Shelley describes the political/social hardships of the era.

Throughout much of the poem, there is a strong sense of death. Shelley describes the West Wind as the wind that brings in the winter months, the months of death and destruction. He uses words such as "ghosts," "corpse," and "grave" all which are associated with death or dying. Many people's innocent lives were taken the day of the Peterloo Massacre, just as the West Wind whips through the land and kills the striving plant life. Winter is the dying season, everything is dead and dreary. "The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, / Each like a corpse within its grave." (55) Here Shelley describes seeds from plants going into hibernation, like a corpse in the cold ground. They temporarily die, until the warm season when they can be reborn. But, only because we have this solemn winter, can we have this blooming spring near after, the season of rebirth. It would only be appropriate for Shelley to speak of death if he is referring to such devastation of the Peterloo Massacre.

The West Wind is also depicted as powerful, and almost demonic in a sense. It is described as "wild" and "fierce." It has the power to change the seasons, and by doing so it has the power to kill what lies in its path. The way Shelley continues to say "O hear!" at the end of the stanzas exemplifies the power the West Wind has. It seem as though the wind might be some sort of God to Shelley, and by repeating this phrase, it is as though Shelley is praying to this West Wind to hear him. "Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; / Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!" (55) He even refers to the wind as a "wild spirit", personifying it in a way. It is also apparent that the West Wind has a tendency to instill fear in whoever may encounter it. "Thy voice and suddenly grow grey with fear, / And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!" (56) Its power is great; it causes major change, not only in seasons, but in life in general.

The West Wind, to Shelley, is a metaphor for of what he feels should happen in England. Nature becomes the metaphor for political change. After the devastation of the Peterloo Massacre, Shelley believes there needs to be some changes made to the political system in England; a revolution of sorts. This is apparent within the poem because of his constant references to change. The change of the seasons, the change from life, to death, to rebirth; the entirety of the poem is about bring on a change. Although the poem is seemingly dark and not so positive, the change Shelley references is a good change. Yes, the transition from fall to winter is a deadly one, literally, but the transition most anticipated is from winter to spring. Without this period of cold death, there would not be a warm rebirth.

Towards the end of the poem, there is a shift in power from the West Wind, to Shelley himself. He, at first, dramatically glorifies how he has been persecuted, and that it is comparable to Jesus. "As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. / Oh lift me as a wave, a lead, a cloud! / I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!" (56) He then goes on to ask the West Wind "Make me thy lyre," (56) as he starts to temporarily go through a diminishing sense of power. He starts to doubt his abilities with his older age, until Shelley suddenly gains more confidence and tells the wind that