Ode to the West Wind - 2446 Words

Ode to the West Wind, Shelley invokes Zephyrus, the west wind, to free his dead thoughts and words, as from an unextinguished hearth / Ashes and sparks (63, 66-67), in order to prophesy a renaissance among humanity, to quicken a new birth (64). This ode, one of a few personal lyrics published with his great verse drama, Prometheus Unbound, identifies Shelley with his heroic, tormented Titan. By stealing fire from heaven, Prometheus enabled humanity to found civilization. In punishment, according to Hesiod s account, Zeus chained Prometheus on a mountain and gave him unending torment, as an eagle fed from his constantly restored liver. Shelley completed both his dramatic poem and Ode to the West Wind in autumn 1819 in Florence,†¦show more content†¦Inspiration gives the poet a melody, a sequence of simple notes, resembling the wind s stream (15), but his creative mind imposes a new harmony of this melody, by adding chords and by repeating and varying the main motifs. The huma n imagination actively works with this wind to impose harmony on its melody. The lyre accomodate[s] its chords to the motions of that which strikes them, in a determined proportion of sound; even as the musician can accommodate his voice to the sound of the lyre ( §8). In this way, the poet s mind and the inspiration it receives co-create the poem. In Ode on the West Wind, the `melody delivered to Shelley is unconsciously expressed in the poem s epic metaphor, and the chords that his mind generates in response are, first, the repetitions and variations of that melody -- for example, the variation of the leaves metaphor -- and secondly, the formal order: the sonnet sequence imposed on terza rima, as if the tradition of Western sonneteering were imposed on Dante s transcendental vision. That Shelley echoes the metaphor-melody s points of comparison throughout The Defence of Poetry shows how deeply ingrained it was in his mind. To Shelley, metaphors like this, comparing a human being and the universe, characterize the prophetic powers of all poets. Their conscious, rational mind, in routineShow MoreRelatedOde to the West Wind Essay1102 Words   |  5 PagesThe wind is one of the most powerful forces known to man. It can do things that man has been envious of and also terrified of throughout the centuries. It is no wonder why She lley decided to write a poem of praise in its name. Shelley writes this poem with the speaker being a poet himself frustrated that he can not tell the world the things that he feels the world needs to know. Throughout the poem he continually is describing what the wind can do and what he wishes the wind could do for him. ItRead More Ode To The West Wind Essay1549 Words   |  7 Pages Theme :- Inspiration in amp;#8220;Ode to the West Wind; amp;#8220;When composition begins, inspiration is already on the decline; - P. B. Shelley nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Shelley deals with the theme of inspiration in much of his work. However it is particularly apparent in amp;#8216;Ode to the West Windamp;#8217; where the wind is the source of his creativity. The cycles of death and rebirth are examined in an historical context with reference to The Bible. The word inspiration hasRead MoreOde to the West Wind Essay655 Words   |  3 PagesWild West Wind An ode is a poem with extraordinary lyrics, aiming at loftier thought, and more complex formal structure than most lyrics. Another characteristic of an ode is that they are often addressed at something or someone. An ode is a long lyric poem, highly interested in a specific subject, tone, and style, often written to celebrate an event, person, being or power. In which in Ode to the West wind, Shelley describes the winds mighty power and fierce strength, for example in Ode toRead MoreOde to the West Wind Explication Percy Bysse Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind is a dramatization of600 Words   |  3 PagesOde to the West Wind Explication Percy Bysse Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind is a dramatization of man’s useless and â€Å"dead thoughts† (63) and Shelley’s desire from the Autumn wind to drive these â€Å"over the universe† (65) so that not only he but man can start anew. The thoughts are first compared to the leaves of trees but as the poem progresses the thoughts are paralleled with the clouds and finally the â€Å"sapless foliage of the ocean† (40). Shelley personifies himself with the seasons of the Earth andRead MoreImagery in Ode to the West Wind by P.B.Shelley1300 Words   |  6 PagesNilanjan Dutt Imagery in Shelley’s Ode To The West Wind Ode to the West Wind is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley that shows the correspondence between the inner and the outer world of the poet. It is among his famous poems. The major theme of the poem is the poet’s intention to become a force that may bring the change and rejuvenation in man’s life. This theme is metaphorically shown by the rejuvenation of nature through the west wind as an agent. It is described through his excellent useRead MoreOde to the West Wind by Percy Shelley801 Words   |  3 PagesPhilosophical Poem. Shelley was in love with Goodwill and Mary Wollstonecraft’s daughter, Mary, and in 1814 they eloped to Europe. He was one of the epic poets of the 19th century. He the best known for classic anthology verse works such as Ode to the West Wind and The Masque of Anarchy (Shelley, Percy www.dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist). Percy was in a relationship with Harriet. Percy and Harriet had two children, daughter Elizabeth Lanthe born in (1813-1876) and son Charles born in 1814. Percy madeRead More An Analysis of Ode to the West Wind Essay1353 Words   |  6 PagesAn Analysis of Ode to the West Wind Shelleys Ode to the West Wind appears more complex at first than it really is because the poem is structured much like a long, complex sentence in which the main clause does not appear until the last of five fourteen line sections. The poems main idea is held in suspension for 56 lines before the reader sees exactly what Shelley is saying to the west wind, and why hes saying it. In the first four sections Shelley addresses the west wind in three differentRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Ode Of The West Wind 1855 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"Ode to the West Wind†, using various literary devices, proposes the question: How does the speaker, or Percy Shelley, perceive the west wind and what relationship does Shelley wish to obtain with the west wind in order to achieve his main goal? In Shelley’s â€Å"Ode to the West Wind†, metaphors and similes, tone, and imagery reveal Shelley’s perception of the west wind as a powerful force of nature and his dire need to b ecome like the wind in order to inspire the world that surrounds him. The firstRead MoreEssay on Romanticism and Shelleys Ode to the West Wind985 Words   |  4 PagesRomanticism and Shelleys Ode to the West Wind       M.H. Abrams wrote, The Romantic period was eminently an age obsessed with fact of violent change (Revolution 659). And Percy Shelley is often thought of as the quintessential Romantic poet (Appelbaum x). The Ode to the West Wind expresses perfectly the aims and views of the Romantic period. Shelleys poem expresses the yearning for Genius. In the Romantic era, it was common to associate genius with an attendant spirit or forceRead MoreEssay on Analysis of Ode to the West Wind1129 Words   |  5 Pagespentameter in terza rima formation. The rhyming pattern follows the form aba bcb cdc ded ee. According to Shelleys note, this poem was conceived and chiefly written in a wood that skirts the Arno, near Florence, and on a day when that tempestuous wind, whose temperature is at once mild and animating, was collecting the vapours which pour down the autumnal rains. They began, as I foresaw, at sunset with a violent tempest of hail and rain, attended that magnificent thunder and lightning peculiar to