The appreciation of Ode to the West Wind

李 爽

The appreciation of Ode to the West Wind

李 爽

Ode to the West Wind is a famous poetry written by Percy Bysshe Shelley to criticize the old and rotten thing (destroyer), and to praise the West Wind (preserver) at that age． He also expressed his hope that bright will replace dark in the future．

destroyer preserver rotten new spirit

Ode to the West Wind is a famous lyric poetry written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819. The poetry is written in iambic pentameter. It consists of five sections written in terza rima. Each section consists of four tercets (ABA, BCB, CDC, DED) and a rhyming couplet (EE). The poetry can be divided in two parts: the first three sections can be a part. And this part are about the qualities of the West Wind and each ends with the invocation “Oh hear!”. The last two sections give a relation between the West Wind and the speaker. And the poetry ends with an optimistic note which is that if winter days are here then spring is not very far which shows the hope in the poet’s heart.

The first section describes a picture that the West Wind sweeps the dead leaves and the seeds spread by the West Wind. The frst line begins with the alliteration “wild West Wind”and it also uses metaphor to denote the West Wind to “Autumn’s being”. And “thine azure sister” donates to spring wind. The last line is the core of this section; it shows us the nature of the West Wind that is destroyer and preserver. Here the West Wind may stand for revolutionary force for it can destroy old and rotten things and also preserve new thing which is full of vigor and vitality.

In the second section, Shelley makes a closer description about the West Wind. He uses cloud, rain and lightning to show the power of “steam mid the steep sky’ commotion”. In the last two lines, “black rain”, “fre” and “hail” stand for how great the power of the West Wind is. Here, Shelley turns his eyes to the sky to announce the revolutionary storm is coming with the great destruction which corresponds with the“destroyer” in the frst section.

In the third section, Shelley shows that the West Wind sweeps out the old and rotten things in the ocean. “The blue Mediterranean” denotes to the ruler at that time, which falls in sleep. And “pumice isle in Baiae’s bay” is quivering. That makes a great contrast with the static ruler and active soldiers of revaluation to imply old things will be replaced by brighter and new objects. In this section, Shelley continues to describe the destruction of the West Wind to correspond with the first section.

The forth section begins with sentences of unreal condition to show the desire that Shelley wants to be a dead leaf, a swift cloud even a wave to share and feel the power of the West Wind and the determination to sweep the rotten together. The sentence “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!” express the bad suffering during his life. And also from this section, Shelley begins to pay more attention on another nature of the West Wind—preserver rather than destroyer. In this section, Shelley puts himself as a part of the West Wind. With a heroic style to express the determination that he would like to be tumbling wave, a fying leaf and swift cloud under the west wind. And he shows us the hope to fght against the dark reactionary force without afraid of thorns and bleeding. And Shelley foreshadows the main idea of this poem that is fghting for a better tomorrow.

The last section gives more details of the preserver mentioned in the first section. It is the climax of the whole poem, and it shows the power of the West Wind as a preserver. The line “Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is” indicates that Shelley wants to be a lyre to help the West Wind to spread the new hope of the revolution. The line “What if my leaves are falling like its own!” shows his determination that although he will be injured or will die, he will never give up his dreams and goals by using sentences of unreal condition. At last, Shelley again calls the West Wind in a kind of prayer and even wants himself to be the West Wind Spirit: “My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!”. Like the leaves of the trees in a forest, his leaves will fall and decay even will perhaps soon fourish again when the spring comes. That may be why he is looking forward to the spring and asks at the end of the last line“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”. This line is known by almost all the people for its meaningful signifcance and the hope in the future. Shelley summarizes the destructions of destroyer and preservation of preserver of the West Wind to make an inspiration that bright will replace dark. And we will win in the end.

Personally, I like Ode to the West Wind very much. And the main reason is the spirit of the West Wind. And I also hope I can have its spirit as Shelly. I may not face the situation that Shelly feces, while my life also is full of small diffculties and troubles. I should try my best to sweep them like the West Wind and keep a hope for my better tomorrow. Only follow the West Wind can I achieve the fnal goal.

（作者單位：首都經濟貿易大學）