Ode to the West Wind
Contents:
Introduction
Author Biography
Poem Text
Themes
Style
Historical Context
Critical Overview
Criticism
Sources
For Further Study
Poem Summary
Lines 1-14
In this first of the five sections of the poem, the speaker begins to define the domains and
the powers of the West Wind. While stanza II addresses the winds influence on the sky, and
stanza III discusses its effects on the sea, stanza I describes the winds effects on the land.
The autumn breezes scatter dead leaves and seeds on the forest soil, where they eventually
fertilize the earth and take root as new growth. Both “Destroyer and Preserver” (line 14),
the wind ensures the cyclical regularity of the seasons. These themes of regeneration and
the interconnectedness of death and life, endings and beginnings, runs throughout “Ode to
the West Wind.”
The wind is, of course, more than simply a current of air. In Greek and Latin languages
with which Shelley was familiar the words for “wind,” “inspiration,” soul,” and spirit” are
all related. Shelleys “West Wind” thus seems to symbolize an inspiring spiritual power that
moves everywhere, and affects everything.
Lines 2-3
These lines ostensibly suggest that, like a sorcerer might frighten away spirits, the wind
scatters leaves. But one might also interpret “leaves dead” as forgotten books, and “ghosts”
as writers of the past; in this sense, the winds of inspiration make way for new talent and
ideas by driving away the memories of the old.
Lines 4-5
The colors named here might simply indicate the different shades of the leaves, but it is
also possible to interpret the leaves as symbols of humanitys dying masses. In this
analysis, the colors represent different cultures: Asian, African, Caucasian, and Native
American. This idea is supported by the phrase “Each like a corpse within its grave” in line
8 that could indicate that each person takes part in the natural cycle of life and death.
Lines 6-7
Here, the wind is described as a chariot that carries leaves and seeds to the cold earth. This
comparison gives the impression that the wind has some of the aspects of those who are
associated with chariots gods and powerful rulers.
Line 8
The leaves are personified as people within their graves, an image that harkens back to
lines 4 and 5, where the leaves are considered as diseased “multitudes” of people.
Lines 9-12
In Greek and Roman mythology, the spring west wind was masculine, as was the autumnal
wind. Here, the speaker refers to the spring wind as feminine, perhaps to stress its role as
