BSEd ENG 3 A_Ode to the West Wind_Examining Shelley's Ode to Nature and Change in The Voice of the Wind PDF

Examining Shelley's Ode to Nature and Change in The Voice of the Wind Sabado, Rhea Mae P. A Requirement on the Course, SP ENG 305: Technical Writing Submitted in the College of Education (CoEd), World Citi Colleges (WCC) - Guimba Campus...

Examining Shelley's Ode to Nature and Change in The Voice of the Wind Sabado, Rhea Mae P. A Requirement on the Course, SP ENG 305: Technical Writing Submitted in the College of Education (CoEd), World Citi Colleges (WCC) - Guimba Campus October 29, 2024  Introduction Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind is one of the most celebrated Romantic poems, illustrating both the power of nature and the human spirit. Written in 1819, the poem captures Shelley’s response to the natural world, using the West Wind as a powerful symbol of transformation, creativity, and renewal. Shelley, a leading figure of the Romantic movement, is known for his passionate exploration of themes like political freedom, personal liberation, and the revolutionary potential of nature, and in this work, he uses the wind as a metaphor for these forces. The poem’s structure and form mirror the dynamic power it describes, composed in five cantos and following the intricate terza rima rhyme scheme. This unique form, with its flowing, interconnected stanzas, reflects the wind’s movement across land, sea, and sky, binding the natural and the spiritual realms. Shelley’s imagery brings the reader into a vivid, stormy landscape, where the West Wind acts as a “destroyer and preserver,” symbolizing both decay and rebirth. He speaks not only of the natural cycles of change but also expresses a deep desire for personal and social transformation, praying to the wind for inspiration to spread his revolutionary ideas “like leaves in the forest.” Ultimately, Ode to the West Wind is an exploration of the poet’s role in society, as Shelley seeks the same unrestrained freedom he admires in nature. His invocation to the wind is both a call for creative inspiration and a plea for change, making the poem a powerful expression of Romantic ideals and the timeless human aspiration for growth, freedom, and impact. In Ode to the West Wind, Percy Bysshe Shelley addresses the powerful force of the West Wind as a symbol of change, inspiration, and transformation. The poem is divided into five sections, each focusing on the wind’s influence over different realms—land, sky, and sea. Shelley portrays the wind as both a "destroyer and preserver," sweeping away dead leaves to make way for new growth, thus symbolizing the natural cycle of death and rebirth. As the poem progresses, Shelley’s tone becomes more personal and introspective. He expresses a desire to be as free and powerful as the wind, wishing it would carry his words, ideas, and even his spirit to inspire change in the world. In the final stanza, he implores the wind to spread his thoughts like “ashes and sparks” so they may ignite a revolution of thought and renewal, much like spring follows winter. Objective: a) Analyze how Shelley conveys themes of change and rebirth in Ode to the West Wind using imagery and symbolism. b) Examine the poem's structure and form, notably the terza rima and how it enriches the poem’s rhythmic movement and flow. c) Explore the poet's connection to nature, emphasizing the West Wind as a symbol of inspiration, transformation, and the yearning for individual and collective rejuvenation. Ode to the West Wind By P. Shelley Discussion Who is Percy Shelley? Percy Bysshe Shelley ( 1792-1822) A brilliant poet, an avowed atheist anti-monarchical and anti-war. Type of Work "Ode to the West Wind" is a lyric poem that addresses the west wind as a powerful force and asks it to scatter the poet's words throughout the world. A lyric poem presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story or presenting a witty observation. An ode is a lyric poem that uses lofty, dignified language to address a person or thing. Setting and Background Information It is 1819 autumn at this time. The region is western Italy, extending inland from the coast of the Mediterranean to Florence. In the poem, Shelley specifically mentions the city of Baiae, which the ancient Romans called Aqua Cumanae. Julius Caesar and Nero were among the Roman aristocrats who built villas in the city due to its pleasant environment while on holiday. As mentioned in lines 32 and 33 of the poem, volcanic eruptions submerged a portion of the ancient location beneath the sea. The poem was composed by Shelley in an Arno River forest located inland, close to Florence. According to his notes on the poem, he was inspired to write it one fall day when a fierce west wind blew in from the Atlantic and across west-central Italy's Tuscany region. The poem 'Ode to the West Wind' was written in 1819 and was published in 1820 by Shelley. He fought for his freedom in this poem. It proves that the poet desires to be as free as the West Wind. It is pointed out that Shelley, who was depressed at this time, wrote the poem in an attempt to overcome the depression by remembering the process of regeneration in nature. The Poem I O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With living hues and odours plain and hill: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear! II Thou on whose stream, ‘mid the steep sky’s commotion, Loose clouds like Earth’s decaying leaves are shed, Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean, Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread On the blue surface of thine airy surge, Like the bright hair uplifted from the head Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge Of the horizon to the zenith’s height, The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge Of the dying year, to which this closing night Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre Vaulted with all thy congregated might Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear! III Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams The blue Mediterranean, where he lay, Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams, Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay, And saw in sleep old palaces and towers Quivering within the wave's intenser day, All overgrown with azure moss and flowers So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou For whose path the Atlantic’s level powers Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear The sapless foliage of the ocean, know Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear, And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear! IV If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee; A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share The impulse of thy strength, only less free Than thou, O Uncontrollable! If even I were as in my boyhood, and could be The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven, As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne’er have striven As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud. V Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened Earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? Stanza 1 (explanation) Addressing the west wind as a human, the poet describes its activities: It drives dead leaves away as if they were ghosts fleeing a wizard. The leaves are yellow and black, pale and red, as if they had died of an infectious disease. The west wind carries seeds in its chariot and deposits them in the earth, where they lie until the spring wind awakens them by blowing on a trumpet (clarion). When they form buds, the spring wind spreads them over plains and on hills. In a paradox, the poet addresses the west wind as a destroyer and a preserver, then asks it to listen to what he says. Stanza 2 The poet says the west wind drives clouds along just as it does dead leaves after it shakes the clouds free of the sky and the oceans. These clouds erupt with rain and lightning. Against the sky, the lightning appears as a bright shaft of hair from the head of a Mænad. The poet compares the west wind to a funeral song sung at the death of a year and says the night will become a dome erected over the year's tomb with all of the wind's gathered might. From that dome will come black rain, fire, and hail. Again the poet asks the west wind to continue to listen to what he has to say. Stanza 4 The poet says that if he were a dead leaf (like the ones in the first stanza) or a cloud (like the ones in the second stanza) or an ocean wave that rides the power of the Atlantic but is less free than the uncontrollable west wind-or if even he were as strong and vigorous as he was when he was a boy and could accompany the wandering wind in the heavens and could only dream of traveling faster-well, then, he would never have prayed to the west wind as he is doing now in his hour of need. Referring again to imagery in the first three stanzas, the poet asks the wind to lift him as it would a wave, a leaf, or a cloud; for here on earth he is experiencing troubles that prick him like thorns and cause him to bleed. He is now carrying a heavy burden that though he is proud and tameless and swift like the west wind-has immobilized him in chains and bowed him down. Stanza 3 The phenomenon alluded to at the end of the third stanza is well known to naturalists. The vegetation at the bottom of the sea, of rivers, and of lakes, sympathizes with that of the land in the change of seasons, and is consequently influenced by the winds that announce it. Stanza 5 The poet asks the west wind to turn him into a lyre (a stringed instrument) in the same way that the west wind's mighty currents turn the forest into a lyre. And if the poet's leaves blow in the wind like those from the forest trees, there will be heard a deep autumnal tone that is both sweet and sad. Π Be "my spirit," the poet implores the wind. "Be thou me" and drive my dead thoughts (like the dead leaves) across the universe in order to prepare the way for new birth in the spring. The poet asks the wind to scatter his words around the world, as if they were ashes from a burning fire. To the unawakened earth, they will become blasts from a trumpet of prophecy. In other words, the poet wants the wind to help him disseminate his views on politics, philosophy, literature, and so on. The poet is encouraged that, although winter will soon arrive, spring and rebirth will follow it. Figure of Speech. Alliteration: Wild West Wind (line 1). Metaphor: Comparison of the poet to a forest (line 58). Anastrophe: leaves dead (line 2) Simile: Comparison of buds to flocks (line 11). Personification: Comparison of spring wind to a person (lines 9-10). Paradox: Destroyer and preserver (line 14). Conclusion Invoking the "wild West Wind" of fall, the speaker begs the wind, a "destroyer and preserver," to hear him as it destroys dead leaves and spreads seeds so that the spring may foster them. The speaker addresses the wind as the "dirge / Of the dying year," explains how it arouses strong storms, and begs it once more to listen to him. The speaker begs the wind to hear him a third time, claiming that it shook the Mediterranean from "his summer dreams," split the Atlantic into choppy chasms, and made the ocean's "sapless foliage" quake. The speaker claims that he would not have needed to pray to the wind or call upon its powers if he were a dead leaf that the wind could carry, a cloud that the wind could transport, a wave that the wind could push, or even if he were "the comrade" of the wind's "wandering over heaven" when he was a young kid. Despite being like the wind at heart—untamable and arrogant—he begs the wind to carry him "as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!" because he is currently bound and bent over from his time spent on earth. By incanting this verse, the speaker asks the wind to "make me thy lyre, be his own Spirit, and to drive his thoughts across the universe, "like withered leaves, to quicken a new birth." He also asks the wind to be the "trumpet of a prophecy," dispersing his words among people and speaking to them both in reference to the season and the impact he hopes his words will have on people. Finally, the speaker asks, "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Question 1. What is the poem's significance? 2. What is the poem's impact on the reader? 3. What does the wind symbolize in the poem? 4. What does the speaker ask the wind to do? 5. What is the poem's overall mood? References Ode to the West wind. (2024, June 22). The Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45134/ode-to-the-west-wind Ode to the West Wind Poem Summary and analysis | LitCharts. (n.d.). LitCharts. https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/percy-bysshe-shelley/ode-to-the-west-wind The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2011, June 29). Ode to the West Wind | Romantic Poetry, Nature Poem, Percy Shelley. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ode-to-the-West-Wind