Shelley-Ode to West Wind

Shelley's Shelley' s Poetry PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Context

Percy By Percy Byss sshe he Sh Shel elle ley y wa was s bo born rn in 17 1792 92,, in into to a we wealt althy hy Su Suss ssex ex fa fami mily ly wh whic ich h ev even entu tual ally ly attain att ained ed min minor or no noble ble ra rank nk--t --the he po poet et's 's gr grand andfat father her,, a wea wealt lthy hy bus busine iness ssman, man, re rece ceive ived d a baron bar onet etcy cy in 18 1806. 06. Ti Timot mothy hy She Shell lley, ey, the poe poet's t's fat fathe her, r, was a me membe mberr of Par Parlia liament ment and a country gentleman. The young Shelley entered Eton, a prestigious school for boys, at the age of tw twelv elve. e. Whi While le he was the there re,, he dis disco cover vered ed th the e wor works ks of a ph phil iloso osophe pherr nam named ed Wi Will lliam iam Godwi God win, n, whi which ch he co consu nsume med d pas passi sion onate ately ly an and d in whi which ch he bec became ame a fe ferve rvent nt be belie liever ver;; th the e young you ng ma man n who wholeh lehear earte tedly dly em embr brace aced d th the e id idea eals ls of lib libert erty y and eq equal uality ity es espo pouse used d by the French Revolution, and devoted his considerable passion and persuasive power to convincing others othe rs of the ri right ghtnes ness s of his bel belief iefs. s. Ent Enter erin ing g Oxf Oxfor ord d in 18 1810 10,, She Shell lley ey was ex expel pelle led d the Necessity sity of Athei Atheism  sm -follo fol lowin wing g sp spri ring ng for his par partt in aut autho horin ring g a pam pamph phlet let ent entitl itled ed The Neces -atheism being an outrageous idea in religiously conservative nineteenth-century England. At the age of nineteen, Shelley eloped with Harriet Westbrook, the sixteen-year-old daughter of a tav tavern ern ke keepe eper, r, whom he mar marrie ried d de despi spite te his in inher herent ent dislike dislike for the tav taver ern. n. Not long after, he made the personal acquaintance of William Godwin in London, and promptly fell in love with Godwin's daughter Mary Wollstonecraft, whom he was eventually able to marry, and who is no now w re reme memb mber ere ed pr prim imar aril ily y as th the e au auth thor or of  Frankenstein. In 181 1816, 6, th the e She Shell lleys eys traveled trave led to Swit Switzerlan zerland d to mee meett Lor Lord d Byro Byron, n, the most famo famous, us, cel celebr ebrated ated,, and cont controve roversi rsial al poett of th poe the e er era; a; the two me men n be becam came e cl close ose frie riends nds.. Aft After er a tim time, e, the they y for forme med d a ci circ rcle le of  English expatriates in Pisa, traveling throughout Italy; during this time Shelley wrote most of  his finest lyric poetry, including the immortal "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark." In 1822, 182 2, Sh Shel elley ley drowned drowned whi while le sa sail iling ing in a st stor orm m off the It Italia alian n co coas ast. t. He was not yet thi thirt rty y years old. Shelley belo Shelley belongs ngs to the younger younger gener generatio ation n of Engli English sh Rom Romanti antic c poet poets, s, the generatio generation n th that at came to prominence while William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were settling into middle mid dle age. Whe Where re the older older gen gener erati ation on was mar marke ked d by si simp mple le ide ideals als and a re rever verenc ence e for natur nat ure, e, th the e po poet ets s of th the e yo youn unge gerr ge gene nera rati tio on (wh (whic ich h al als so in incl clud uded ed Jo John hn Ke Keat ats s an and d th the e infamous Lord Byron) came to be known for their sensuous aestheticism, their explorations of  intense passions, their political radicalism, and their tragically short lives. Shelley died when he was twenty-nine, Byron when he was thirty-six, and Keats when he was only twenty-six years old. To an extent, the intensity of feeling emphasized by Romanticism meant that the movement was always associated with youth, and because Byron, Keats, and She Sh ell lle ey di die ed you oun ng (a (and nd nev ever er ha had d the oppo port rtu uni nity ty to si sink nk in into to con onse serv rvat atis ism m an and d complacency as Wordsworth did), they have attained iconic status as the representative tragic Romantic artists. Shelley's life and his poetry certainly support such an understanding, but it is important not to indulge in stereotypes to the extent that they obscure a poet's individual character. Shelley's joy, his magnanimity, his faith in humanity, and his optimism are unique among the Romantics; his expression of those feelings makes him one of the early nineteenth century's most significant writers in English.

Analysis The cent central ral them thematic atic concerns concerns of Shel Shelley's ley's poetry poetry are lar largely gely the same the themes mes th that at defi defined ned Romant Rom antic icism ism,, es espe pecia ciall lly y am amon ong g the yo young unger er Eng Englis lish h po poet ets s of Sh Shel elley ley's 's er era: a: bea beauty uty,, the passions, nature, political liberty, creativity, and the sanctity of the imagination. What makes Shelley's Shell ey's tre treatm atment ent of thes these e the themes mes uniq u nique ue is his philosophic philosophical al rel relatio ationshi nship p to his subject matter—wh matte r—which ich was bet better ter developed developed and articulate articulated d th than an that of any oth other er Rom Romantic antic poet with the possible exception of Wordsworth—and his temperament, which was extraordinarily sensitive sensi tive and res responsi ponsive ve eve even n for a Ro Romanti mantic c poet poet,, and whic which h posse possesse ssed d an ext extrao raordin rdinary ary capacity capac ity for joy, love love,, and ho hope. pe. Shel Shelley ley ferve fervently ntly bel believe ieved d in the possibili possibility ty of real realizin izing g an ideal of human happiness as based on beauty, and his moments of darkness and despair (he had man many, y, part particul icularly arly in boo book-le k-lengt ngth h poem poems s such as the monumental monumental Queen Mab ) alm almost ost always stem from his disappointment at seeing that ideal sacrificed to human weakness. Shelley's Shelle y's int intens ense e fe feeli elings ngs abo about ut bea beauty uty and exp expres ressi sion on are doc docume umente nted d in poe poems ms su such ch as "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark," in which he invokes metaphors from nature to characterize his relationship to his art. The center of his aesthetic philosophy can be found in his imp importa ortant nt ess essay ay A Defence of Poetry, in whic which h he argues that poetry brings about moral good. Poetry, Shelley argues, exercises and expands the imagination, and the imagination is the source of sympathy, compassion, and love, which rest on the ability to project oneself into the position of another person. He writes, A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself  in th the e p lac lace e of anothe another and of man many y oth others. ers. The pai pains ns and ple pleasu asure res s of his specie species s mu must st beco be come me hi his s ow own. n. The gre great at inst nstru rume ment nt of mo morral go good od is th the e ima magi gina nati tio on; an and d po poet etry ry administers to the effect by acting upon the cause. Poetry enlarges the circumference of the imagin ima ginat atio ion n by re reple plenis nishin hing g it wit with h th thou ought ghts s of eve everr new de deli light ght,, whi which ch hav have e the power power of  attrac att racti ting ng and assi assimil milat atin ing g to the their ir ow own n nat nature ure all othe otherr th thou ought ghts, s, and whi which ch for form m ne new w intervals and interstices whose void forever craves fresh food. Poetry strengthens the faculty which is the organ of the moral nature of man, in the same manner as exercise strengthens a limb. No other English poet of the early nineteenth century so emphasized the connection between beauty and goodness, or believed so avidly in the power of art's sensual pleasures to improve society. socie ty. Byro B yron's n's pose was one of amor amoral al sens sensuousne uousness, ss, or of co controv ntroversi ersial al rebe rebelli lliousne ousness; ss; Keats believed believed in beau beauty ty and aesth aesthet etics ics for their their own sake. But She Shelley lley was abl able e to believe believe that poetry makes people and society better ; his poetry is suffused with this kind of inspired moral optimism, which he hoped would affect his readers sensuously, spiritually, and morally, all at the same time.

Ode to the West Wind

Summary The sp speak eaker er inv invoke okes s the "wi "wild ld Wes Westt Wi Wind" nd" of aut autumn umn,, whi which ch sc scatt atter ers s th the e de dead ad le leaves aves and spre sp read ads s se see eds so th that at th they ey may be nur urttur ure ed by th the e spr prin ing, g, an and d as asks ks th that at th the e wi wind nd,, a "dest "de stro royer yer and pre preser server ver," ," hea hearr him him.. The sp speak eaker er ca calls lls the win wind d the "dirge "dirge / Of the dying dying year, ye ar,"" and des descr cribe ibes s ho how w it st stir irs s up vi viole olent nt st stor orms, ms, and aga again in im implo plores res it to hea hearr him him.. The speaker says that the wind stirs the Mediterranean from "his summer dreams," and cleaves the Atlantic into choppy chasms, making the "sapless foliage" of the ocean tremble, and asks for a third time that it hear him. The sp speak eaker er says th that at if he were a dea dead d le leaf af that th the e win wind d co could uld bear, bear, or a cl clou oud d it could could carry car ry,, or a wa wave ve it co coul uld d pus push, h, or ev even en if he wer were, e, as a bo boy, y, "t "the he co comr mrade ade"" of th the e wi wind nd's 's "wandering over heaven," then he would never have needed to pray to the wind and invoke its powers. He pleads with the wind to lift him "as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!"--for though he is like the wind at heart, untamable and proud--he is now chained and bowed with the weight of  his hours upon the earth. The sp spea eake kerr as asks ks th the e wi wind nd to "m "mak ake e me thy lyr lyre, e,"" to be his own Sp Spir irit it,, an and d to drive drive hi his s though tho ughts ts acr acros oss s th the e uni univers verse, e, "li "like ke wit withe here red d le leave aves, s, to qui quick cken en a ne new w bi birth rth." ." He ask asks s th the e wind, wi nd, by th the e in inc cant antat atio ion n of th this is ve vers rse, e, to sc scat atte terr hi his s wo word rds s am amo ong ma mank nkin ind, d, to be th the e "trumpet of a prophecy." Speaking both in regard to the season and in regard to the effect upon upo n ma mankin nkind d th that at he ho hopes pes his words words to ha have, ve, the speaker speaker asks: asks: "If winter winter com comes es,, ca can n spring be far behind?"

Form Each of the sev Each seven en par parts ts of "O "Ode de to th the e Wes Westt Wi Wind" nd" con conttains fi five ve sta stanza nzass--f -four our thr three ee-li -line ne stanzas and a two-line couplet, all metered in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme in each part follows a pattern known as terza rima, the three-line rhyme scheme employed by Dante in his Divine Comedy. In the three-line terza rima  stanza, the first and third lines rhyme, and the middle line does not; then the end sound of that middle line is employed as the rhyme for the first and third lines in the next stanza. The final couplet rhymes with the middle line of the last threethree-lin line e st stanz anza. a. Th Thus us eac each h of the seven seven par parts ts of "Od "Ode e to the West Wind" Wind" fol follo lows ws thi this s scheme: ABA BCB CDC DED EE.

Commentary The wispy, fluid terza rima  of "Ode to the West Wind" finds Shelley taking a long thematic leap beyond the scope of "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty," and incorporating his own art into his meditation on beauty and the natural world. Shelley invokes the wind magically, describing its power and its role as both "destroyer and preserver," and asks the wind to sweep him out of his torpor "as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!" In the fifth section, the poet then takes a remarkable turn, transforming the wind into a metaphor for his own art, the expressive capacity that drives "dead thoughts" like "withered leaves" over the universe, to "quicken a new birth"--that is, to quicken the coming of the spring. Here the spring season is a metaphor for a "spring" of human conscious consci ousness, ness, ima imagina ginatio tion, n, lib libert erty, y, or morali moralityty--all -all the thi things ngs She Shelle lley y hope hoped d his art cou could ld hel help p to brin bring g about in the human mind. Shelley asks the wind to be his spirit, and in the same movement he makes it his metaphorical spirit, his poetic faculty, which will play him like a musical instrument, the way the wind strums the leaves of the trees. The thematic implication is significant: whereas the older generation of Romantic poets viewed nature as a source of truth and authentic experience, the younger generation largely viewed nature as a source of beauty and aesthetic experience. In this poem, Shelley explicitly links nature with art by finding powerful natural metaphors with which to express his ideas about the power, import, quality, and ultimate effect of aesthetic expression.