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Comment 2 of 2, added on April 5th, 2009 at 3:19 PM.
Part 1
O Wild West Wind thou breath of Autumns being
{{{* O (apostrophe: used to address or call some1 not present) wild West Wind (alliteration) , thou breath of Autumn's (metaphor: the breath of autumn) being (Autumns being: personification of the wind- autumn is being personified)
( he says that autumn exists when there is the west wind The autumn is alive when there is the west wind and thus the wind is personified as a being) ), }}}
Thou, from whose unseen presence (we cant see the wind) the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter (magician- witch) fleeing, (simile)
(*The effect of the wind is like a magician/ witch because the leaves run away from it (as if it is running from the witch) So the people are running away from the destroyer(wind)
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, (color of dead leaves)
Pestilence-stricken (people with disease) multitudes: O(still calling the wind thou, (leaves are compared to people that are struck by a disease)
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed (Metaphor: the soil is compared to a bird)
* These few lines carry a lot of figurative language/literary elements.
The winged seeds (metaphor: comparing seeds to birds that can fly), where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until (seeds are carried to the soil as corpse are carried to the grave)
Thine azure sister of the Spring (personified as the goddess that blows her clarion as a signal for the seeds to grow) shall blow (keep the seeds on the floor until another season comes- Spring. Allusion: This is a reference to the Greek Mythology)
Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) (the blooming of the flowers is compared to the sheep. The wind leads the flowers to grow such the way a Shepard leads the sheep)
With living hues (color) and odors (sweet scents-smell) plain and hill:
Wild Spirit (emphasizes on Wild-personification- Cuz its out of control, powerful & free), which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear! (It destroyed the leaves at the same time preserved the life by carrying seeds; Life cycle) the speaker is showing the power of the West wind by emphasizing its important role in its contribution in the life cycle (destroyer and preserver)
{paradox: destroyer & preserver}
• Describing the effect of wind on the land. He calls the wind as a destroyer and the preserver (wind has effect on life and death). He is taking the wind as the most powerful aspect of nature. He shows that its power is not only one part of the earth but all (land-sky-sea)
Part 2
The 1st part described the effect of the wind on land. The 2nd part describes the effect of the wind in the sky (madness)
Thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion,
Loose clouds like Earth's decaying leaves are shed, (the wind sweeps the sky and scatters the clouds )
Shook from the tangled boughs (branches) of Heaven (sky) and Ocean (in the horizon- it looks as if the clouds are on the ocean), (it shakes the clouds in the sky and the ocean as it shakes the leaves of the tree)
(tangled boughs of heaven & ocean: metaphor: the sky is compared to a tree and the clouds are hanging on it. The wind then scatters the clouds as the leaves are scattered)
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread (signs of a storm)
On the blue surface of thine airy surge (refers to the waves in the sky),
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce (wild) Maenad (kaali polatheh sthreegal), even from the dim verge (allusion & simile). (Simile: the clouds are spread as the hair of a wild maenad) (Allusion: maenad; Greek mythology)
Of the horizon to the zenith's height (peak-everywhere to the highest peak),
The locks (hair) of the approaching storm. Thou dirge (sad song on funerals)
Of the dying year (the wind becomes a dirge), to which this closing night (when the clouds cover the sky)
Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre(tomb-grave)
The wind is described as a sad song (dirge) declaring the end of the year and thus forming a huge tomb on the earth.
{These lines creates the gloomy, melancholy atmosphere or mood}
Vaulted with all thy congregated might (the combination of things that creates the storm)
Of vapours (rain), from whose solid atmosphere
Black rain, and fire (lightning & thunder) , and hail (ice) will burst: O hear!
(Description of the wind contributes in creating a mighty storm demonstrating its power of change.
Evil, strong, mad, craziness power- chaos caused by the storm)
• The mood created is that of madness & power.
• Remember that the wind plays a role in regenerating life through the water cycle.
Part 3 (effect of the wind in the ocean)
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams (the wind wakes the med sea from its peaceful sleep)
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,(personification: the med sea is personified as a male)
Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay(Italy- touristic site meaning there are no dangers), so the wind was able to disturb the med sea by the baiae’s bay
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers (we see the reflection of the towers and palaces on the peaceful med sea)
Quivering within the wave's intenser day, (the wind then causes the reflection of the towers and palaces to be shaken- the peaceful med sea is disturbed by the appearance of the wind shaking the beautiful reflection of palaces & nature)
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou
For whose path the Atlantic's level powers (the wind effects the ocean too)
Cleave (break) themselves into chasms (gaps), while far below(what happens deep down in the ocean is… explained in the last 4lines.)
( the effect of the wind on the ocean above: the ocean splits into 2 and created chasms (gaps)
The sea-blooms(plants under water) and the oozy woods (plants) which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear (even the plants become afraid upon hearing the sound of the wind, thus they tremble try to hide or cover),
And tremble and despoil(damage) themselves: O hear(apostrophe)! (the speaker wants the wind to listen to his complications in life because the wind is influential & powerful. He wants change, he wants to be the wind)
(lots of personification in these few lines)
* The speaker wants the readers to acknowledge the power of the wind in the sky, land, & ocean
Part 4
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; (if he was a dead leave, then the would carry him{he wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a leaf})
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee (wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a cloud);
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share (he is wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a cloud)
The impulse of thy strength, only less free (he is admitting his weakness, in power and strength)
Than thou, O Uncontrollable! If even
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven (sky),
As then, when to outstrip (excel) thy skiey speed
Scarce (barely) seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven
(It was like a memory, it was barely a memory that he was in his boyhood. He is saying that he could barley remember of the time of his boyhood were he was passionate, strong, free, rebellious. He is saying that he wants to be like the wind because of its power. He cant even remember such characteristics that he had, since the wind has them, he wants to be part of it)
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need (greatest need).
Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! (he wants to be part of the wind)
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! (Metaphor: comparing his life to the thorns of life symbolizing the obstacles, suffering, agony& hardships that he is facing in his life; he is asking the wind to help him)
A heavy weight of hours (heavy weight of hours is a metaphor referring to the passage of time) has chained and bowed (bowed shows that he is half weakened. He is not completely oppressed, he has a little more rebellion in him which he cant use without the help of the wind)
One too like thee: tameless (wild), and swift (fast), and proud (rebellious)
* the poem is an ode because it is a prayer asking the wind for help.
Part 5
Make me thy lyre (metaphor: lyre is a musical instrumen), even as the forest is (Simile):
What if my leaves are falling like its own(Simile)! (his thoughts are like falling leaves, dead and not helping anyone any more. So he is comparing himself to that meaning his thoughts are useless his spirit declining, his thoughts are being dead and useless)
(Make me thy lyre: metaphor is also an allusion to the Greek mythology in which the lyre/harp is played by the wind or nature. It is a metaphor because he is comparing himself to the harp and saying that he wants to be the harp and controlled by the wind. The speaker becomes a passive person asking the wind to control him just as the wind compares the lyre)
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
(the music that the wind creates will be sad but he will enjoy it, it will be sweet because it comes from nature)
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous(violent, strong) one!
(first he just wanted to be controlled by the wind. Now his tone changes, he wants to be active, he wants to be the wind & have its the winds spirit. The tone shifts from the passive to an active one whereby he asks the wild, violent, uncontrolled wind to be him)
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
(He wants to be the wind so that he can drive away his dead thoughts)
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! {Simile}
(Restatement or the reminder of the life cycle that the wing takes role in)
And, by the incantation of this verse,
(by the incantation of the poem..)
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth(chimney). {Simile}
(a chimney that carries the ashes and a few coal)
Ashes and sparks (destroyer & preserver/ life & death), my words among mankind!
(ashes & sparks: paradox )
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth (ignorant)
(He wants the wind through his lips to be the trumpet of a prophecy)
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
(the new thoughts are to be delivered)
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
(Winter represents the death, depressing mood and gloomy mood. Spring represents life and the birth of new thoughts & ideas.)
(He is living that winter represented by winter. Then he asks himself can spring be behind meaning he is waiting for a change)
Tone: hopeful tone or attitude. (Spring)
Main idea: he is asking the wind to scatter, or spread his words.
Hiba from United Arab Emirates
Comment 1 of 2, added on September 17th, 2005 at 7:18 AM.
meaning about ode to the west wind by p.b.shelley
sandhya.r from Austria
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Part 1
O Wild West Wind thou breath of Autumns being
{{{* O (apostrophe: used to address or call some1 not present) wild West Wind (alliteration) , thou breath of Autumn's (metaphor: the breath of autumn) being (Autumns being: personification of the wind- autumn is being personified)
( he says that autumn exists when there is the west wind The autumn is alive when there is the west wind and thus the wind is personified as a being) ), }}}
Thou, from whose unseen presence (we cant see the wind) the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter (magician- witch) fleeing, (simile)
(*The effect of the wind is like a magician/ witch because the leaves run away from it (as if it is running from the witch) So the people are running away from the destroyer(wind)
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, (color of dead leaves)
Pestilence-stricken (people with disease) multitudes: O(still calling the wind thou, (leaves are compared to people that are struck by a disease)
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed (Metaphor: the soil is compared to a bird)
* These few lines carry a lot of figurative language/literary elements.
The winged seeds (metaphor: comparing seeds to birds that can fly), where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until (seeds are carried to the soil as corpse are carried to the grave)
Thine azure sister of the Spring (personified as the goddess that blows her clarion as a signal for the seeds to grow) shall blow (keep the seeds on the floor until another season comes- Spring. Allusion: This is a reference to the Greek Mythology)
Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) (the blooming of the flowers is compared to the sheep. The wind leads the flowers to grow such the way a Shepard leads the sheep)
With living hues (color) and odors (sweet scents-smell) plain and hill:
Wild Spirit (emphasizes on Wild-personification- Cuz its out of control, powerful & free), which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear! (It destroyed the leaves at the same time preserved the life by carrying seeds; Life cycle) the speaker is showing the power of the West wind by emphasizing its important role in its contribution in the life cycle (destroyer and preserver)
{paradox: destroyer & preserver}
• Describing the effect of wind on the land. He calls the wind as a destroyer and the preserver (wind has effect on life and death). He is taking the wind as the most powerful aspect of nature. He shows that its power is not only one part of the earth but all (land-sky-sea)
Part 2
The 1st part described the effect of the wind on land. The 2nd part describes the effect of the wind in the sky (madness)
Thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion,
Loose clouds like Earth's decaying leaves are shed, (the wind sweeps the sky and scatters the clouds )
Shook from the tangled boughs (branches) of Heaven (sky) and Ocean (in the horizon- it looks as if the clouds are on the ocean), (it shakes the clouds in the sky and the ocean as it shakes the leaves of the tree)
(tangled boughs of heaven & ocean: metaphor: the sky is compared to a tree and the clouds are hanging on it. The wind then scatters the clouds as the leaves are scattered)
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread (signs of a storm)
On the blue surface of thine airy surge (refers to the waves in the sky),
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce (wild) Maenad (kaali polatheh sthreegal), even from the dim verge (allusion & simile). (Simile: the clouds are spread as the hair of a wild maenad) (Allusion: maenad; Greek mythology)
Of the horizon to the zenith's height (peak-everywhere to the highest peak),
The locks (hair) of the approaching storm. Thou dirge (sad song on funerals)
Of the dying year (the wind becomes a dirge), to which this closing night (when the clouds cover the sky)
Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre(tomb-grave)
The wind is described as a sad song (dirge) declaring the end of the year and thus forming a huge tomb on the earth.
{These lines creates the gloomy, melancholy atmosphere or mood}
Vaulted with all thy congregated might (the combination of things that creates the storm)
Of vapours (rain), from whose solid atmosphere
Black rain, and fire (lightning & thunder) , and hail (ice) will burst: O hear!
(Description of the wind contributes in creating a mighty storm demonstrating its power of change.
Evil, strong, mad, craziness power- chaos caused by the storm)
• The mood created is that of madness & power.
• Remember that the wind plays a role in regenerating life through the water cycle.
Part 3 (effect of the wind in the ocean)
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams (the wind wakes the med sea from its peaceful sleep)
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,(personification: the med sea is personified as a male)
Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay(Italy- touristic site meaning there are no dangers), so the wind was able to disturb the med sea by the baiae’s bay
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers (we see the reflection of the towers and palaces on the peaceful med sea)
Quivering within the wave's intenser day, (the wind then causes the reflection of the towers and palaces to be shaken- the peaceful med sea is disturbed by the appearance of the wind shaking the beautiful reflection of palaces & nature)
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou
For whose path the Atlantic's level powers (the wind effects the ocean too)
Cleave (break) themselves into chasms (gaps), while far below(what happens deep down in the ocean is… explained in the last 4lines.)
( the effect of the wind on the ocean above: the ocean splits into 2 and created chasms (gaps)
The sea-blooms(plants under water) and the oozy woods (plants) which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear (even the plants become afraid upon hearing the sound of the wind, thus they tremble try to hide or cover),
And tremble and despoil(damage) themselves: O hear(apostrophe)! (the speaker wants the wind to listen to his complications in life because the wind is influential & powerful. He wants change, he wants to be the wind)
(lots of personification in these few lines)
* The speaker wants the readers to acknowledge the power of the wind in the sky, land, & ocean
Part 4
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; (if he was a dead leave, then the would carry him{he wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a leaf})
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee (wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a cloud);
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share (he is wishes to be part of the winds power even if it was a cloud)
The impulse of thy strength, only less free (he is admitting his weakness, in power and strength)
Than thou, O Uncontrollable! If even
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven (sky),
As then, when to outstrip (excel) thy skiey speed
Scarce (barely) seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven
(It was like a memory, it was barely a memory that he was in his boyhood. He is saying that he could barley remember of the time of his boyhood were he was passionate, strong, free, rebellious. He is saying that he wants to be like the wind because of its power. He cant even remember such characteristics that he had, since the wind has them, he wants to be part of it)
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need (greatest need).
Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! (he wants to be part of the wind)
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! (Metaphor: comparing his life to the thorns of life symbolizing the obstacles, suffering, agony& hardships that he is facing in his life; he is asking the wind to help him)
A heavy weight of hours (heavy weight of hours is a metaphor referring to the passage of time) has chained and bowed (bowed shows that he is half weakened. He is not completely oppressed, he has a little more rebellion in him which he cant use without the help of the wind)
One too like thee: tameless (wild), and swift (fast), and proud (rebellious)
* the poem is an ode because it is a prayer asking the wind for help.
Part 5
Make me thy lyre (metaphor: lyre is a musical instrumen), even as the forest is (Simile):
What if my leaves are falling like its own(Simile)! (his thoughts are like falling leaves, dead and not helping anyone any more. So he is comparing himself to that meaning his thoughts are useless his spirit declining, his thoughts are being dead and useless)
(Make me thy lyre: metaphor is also an allusion to the Greek mythology in which the lyre/harp is played by the wind or nature. It is a metaphor because he is comparing himself to the harp and saying that he wants to be the harp and controlled by the wind. The speaker becomes a passive person asking the wind to control him just as the wind compares the lyre)
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
(the music that the wind creates will be sad but he will enjoy it, it will be sweet because it comes from nature)
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous(violent, strong) one!
(first he just wanted to be controlled by the wind. Now his tone changes, he wants to be active, he wants to be the wind & have its the winds spirit. The tone shifts from the passive to an active one whereby he asks the wild, violent, uncontrolled wind to be him)
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
(He wants to be the wind so that he can drive away his dead thoughts)
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! {Simile}
(Restatement or the reminder of the life cycle that the wing takes role in)
And, by the incantation of this verse,
(by the incantation of the poem..)
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth(chimney). {Simile}
(a chimney that carries the ashes and a few coal)
Ashes and sparks (destroyer & preserver/ life & death), my words among mankind!
(ashes & sparks: paradox )
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth (ignorant)
(He wants the wind through his lips to be the trumpet of a prophecy)
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
(the new thoughts are to be delivered)
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
(Winter represents the death, depressing mood and gloomy mood. Spring represents life and the birth of new thoughts & ideas.)
(He is living that winter represented by winter. Then he asks himself can spring be behind meaning he is waiting for a change)
Tone: hopeful tone or attitude. (Spring)
Main idea: he is asking the wind to scatter, or spread his words.
Hiba from United Arab Emirates