Ode to the West Wind Summary

Ode to the West Wind is a poem addressed to the west wind. It is personified both as a "Destroyer" and a "Preserver". It is seen as a great power of nature that destroys in order to create, that kills the unhealthy and the decaying to make way for the new and the fresh.

The personification of the west wind as an enchanter, as a wild spirit is characteristic of Shelley's poetry. Shelley's personification of the west wind can be called "myth poesies", another kind of metaphor.

The poem is divided into five stanzas or parts. Each part consists of 14 lines. The rhyming scheme is aba, bcb, cdc, ded; and a rhyming concept at the end.

stanza 1

The poet addresses the west wind as "Wild" and the "Breath of Autumn's Being." It is a powerful force which drives the dead leaves which are yellow, black, pale and hectic red, to distant places like ghosts from an enchanter. The west wind carries winged seeds to their dark wintery beds underground which remain there till the west winds sister in the spring season blows and these seeds then blossom into sweet, scented flowers. The earth then will be alive with these living lives or colours and scents or fragrances. In this way the west wind acts both as a Destroyer and Preserver.

stanza 2

The Shelley describes the powerful effect of the west wind in the sky. The west wind brakes away the "Clouds" like earth's decaying leaves from the boughs of Heaven. After being plucked, these assume the fierce posture of black rain and hail. These rain clouds are compared to the outspread hair covering the sky from its horizon to its zenith. The wildness and confusion in the sky is compared to some fierce Maenad, the worshipper of Bacchus, the Greek God of wine. Maenad worships god in a frenzied fashion, uplifting her hair like tangled clouds. These indicate the approaching storm.

 The West Wind becomes a dirge (funeral song) which is being sung for the dying year. The night becomes a vast tomb where vapours have been built like arches and will soon come down as rain and hail.

stanza 3

The west wind blows over the blue Mediterranean sea which has been described as a vast sleepy snake, which dreams of old civilization (palaces and towers) rich in flowers and vegetation. The sea sees "old palaces and towers" in sleep, which quiver when the west wind blows. Both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic seas are affected by the West Wind. The Atlantic's surface gets cut into chasms to make way for the West Wind and the vegetation below the surface trembles in fear at the force of the west wind.

stanza 4

The West Wind now becomes a personal force. The poet says that if he were a dead leaf, a swift cloud, a wave, he could experience the West Wind's power and its strength. In his childhood, the poet had the power and strength and could probably out speed the west wind, but now he (the poet) no longer has the strength as he has been weakened by the problem, and burdens of life and he is no longer "tame less,", "swift" and "proud" as he used to be in his childhood. He is blushing as he has fallen on the thorns of life - meaning he is facing many problems/crisis in his life which has drawn away all his strength and power; and he is now looking up to the west wind, requesting him for his help.

stanza 5

Despair and trauma which the poet is experiencing now gives way to a new hope. Shelly offers himself to the west wind in the same way as the sky, the ocean and the forests do. He asks the west wind to be the musician who can take out a deep autumnal tone from him and maker harmoniums music from him in the forest. The poet offers himself to the west wind to be used as a "lyre" for this purpose. The music thus produced may be sad but sweet. The poet then goes on to compare himself to an unextinguished fireplace with ashes and sparks - meaning that the poet still has some unburnt power in him. He requests the west wind to spread this power like it spreads 'ashes' and 'sparks' among mankind.

 The poet ends with the hope that the west wind will carry the poet's words over the entire universe and be the trumpet of his prophecy. Winter is symbolic of despair, coldness and death; but spring gives hope to new life, birth beauty and colour. If there is despair now, hope is very close by so the poet says - if winter comes, can spring be far behind. If there is despair and hopelessness now, there is hope and optimism close at hand.