"Ode to the West Wind": An Examination of Poetic Devices

"Ode to the West Wind": An Examination of Poetic Devices
The poem, "Ode to the West Wind" was written in the year 1819 by famous Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poem illustrates to the reader Shelley's struggle to find transcendence, for he believes that his thoughts, like the "winged seeds / Each like a corpse within it grave" (7-8), are trapped. It is vitally important to Shelley that his words be set free and spread so that they can inspire political change in Europe, particularly in England. However, it becomes clear in examination of the poem that Shelley's words, like the seeds, can be spread only with the powerful force of the wind. Shelley uses an organized structure of sections and stanza's to effectively demonstrate the immense power of the wind to the reader. He focus’s first on the power that the wind holds over the land, describing it as the “Destroyer and Preserver” (14) due to its ability to blow the leaves off of the vegetation, thus killing it, but to then bring about new life by spreading the seeds of this dead vegetation. Shelley then moves on to discuss the power that the wind holds over the sky then the sea in turn before expressing his intense desire to have the wind carry his words through humanity. This desire stems from Shelley’s aspiration to use his poetry to bring about positive political change in Europe, and is expressed effectively with the assistance of such poetic devices as: external form, the strategic arrangement of words on a page, figurative language, and imagery. "Ode to the West Wind" utilizes not only the meaning of words, but also their placement on the page to help reinforce, if in a subtle way, Shelley's message upon the reader. For instance, as much of the focus of the play is on the concept of change, it would not be unreasonable to consider that Shelley wrote his poem in sections, as opposed to in one continuous chunk, with the purpose of further impressing upon the reader that nothing lasts eternally; change is natural and inevitable. In light of Shelley's support of political reform, it would have been important to him that his readers pick up on this acceptance, even yearning, for change. It has also been theorized that Shelley chose to write the poem in the rhyming verse terza rima in order to symbolize seeds. This seems likely because the middle line of one tercet is necessary in order to form the rhyme pattern of the next tercet or couplet, much like the seeds necessary for regrowth that Shelley discusses in depth during the first section of the poem and refers back to throughout the following sections. Since seeds carry life and transform the world after each winter, they serve as a very strong symbol in "Ode to the West Wind". Shelley ends each stanza with a rhyming couplet, thus cutting off the terza rima rhyme scheme of that section so that he may begin fresh with the next one. It is possible that he did this with the intention of really stressing the necessity of complete and total change to his readers. Through the utilization of external form, Shelley was able to heavily emphasize his message of rejuvenation and change to his readers.
External form is not the only area in which Shelley devoted much thought: both figurative language and imagery are frequently and effectively employed in “Ode to the West Wind". In the very first tercet, for instance, Shelley uses the simile, "like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing" (3); to both describe the way the wind blows dead leaves off of the ground and to set a spooky, gloomy mood. As with the figurative language, Shelley does not hesitate to begin utilizing imagery early on in the poem. The first real uses of imagery can be found when Shelley describes the fallen leaves as, "yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red" (4), and then, within the same tercet, when he uses the phrase, "dark wintry bed" (6). These descriptions appeal to the senses of the reader, making it easy for them to imagine the eerie winter scene. The following couple of tercets maintains this mood as well as keeping the descriptions of the setting intriguing for the reader with, again, the expert use of figurative language, such as: "Pestilence-stricken multitudes" (5), a metaphor used to describe the dead and dying leaves as if they were diseased people, and, in reference to seeds this time, "each like a corpse within its grave" (8). Since words such as, ghosts, enchanter, pestilence-stricken, and corpse, all have somber, somewhat unnerving, connotations, they act as excellent tools for Shelley to use to set the initial mood of "Ode to the West Wind". This opening scene contrasts spectacularly with that which Shelley creates for Spring using imagination-provoking descriptions such as: “With living hues and odours plain and hill" (12), which brings to the readers mind the familiar colors and smells of Spring. The stark contrast in the behavior of the seeds between the two seasons is also expressed through imagery; whereas in Winter they "lie cold and low" (7), they soar "like flocks to feed in air" (11) when Spring arrives. Since much of the poems meaning is gained through the symbolism of the seeds, it is very important that this contrast be made obvious to the reader.
In the next section, Shelley expertly demonstrates the method of using figurative language to transition between and relate topics: "loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed" (16). This simile helps the reader to quickly grasp the topic of this new section and to understand that it connects with that of the previous section. Shelley goes on to help the reader to fully comprehend the awe due for the fact that the wind pushes away the clouds by describing them as the, "Angels of rain and lightning" (18). Since the word Angels has strong associations with Christianity, this metaphor would have been very effective in convincing the reader that clouds are righteous and mighty beings. As in the case of the leaves, the wind in the sky has the ability to bring about great change. Shelley demonstrates this to the reader by first painting with his words, "[clouds] are spread / On the blue surface of thine aery surge” (18-19), the image of the wind pushing storm clouds across a blue sky, then revealing the result of this action with the line, "from [the clouds] solid atmosphere / Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: oh hear!" (27-28). The power of the wind continues to be impressed upon the reader in the third section in which, having already discussed earth and air, Shelley moves on to describe the effect of the wind on water. The use of the personification in the following tercet is effective in giving the reader the impression that the sea is similar to a large, hibernating beast:
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams The blue Mediterranean, where he lay, Lulled by the coil of his chrystalline streams (29-31)
Though many people may never have seen an ocean, and certainly not the bottom of one, Shelley uses much imagery to help his reader’s imagine the scene presented in this third section of “Ode to the West Wind”. For instance, he pronounces the old, sunken palaces and towers to be, "All overgrown with azure moss and flowers” (35) and even describes the underwater vegetation in the line, “The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear / The sapless foliage of the ocean" (39-40). Though Shelley also mentions that the wind makes the ruins quiver and the vegetation tremble, the fact that the wind holds power even over the Sea is emphasized best with this personification: “For whose path the Atlantic level powers / Cleave themselves into chasms” (37-38). By the beginning of the fourth stanza, Shelley seems satisfied that the wind has the full respect of his readers for he moves on from describing its strength to asking, even pleading, with it to lift him "as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!" (53). This simile is effective because it connects all of the previous paragraphs together and makes obvious to the reader, Shelley's great desire to have his words lifted by the wind and spread throughout humanity. At the end of the section, Shelley expresses his feeling of being trapped by the limitations of this world with the hyperbole, “A heavy weight of hours [on earth] has chained and bowed [me]” (55). As well as getting his Shelley’s point across through exaggeration, the words, “heavy weight”, and, “chained and bowed”, create a forceful image in the reader’s mind. The metaphor, “Make me thy lyre” (57), that introduces the fifth and final section of “Ode to the West Wind” makes for a very strong comparison because the music of a lyre is revealed and carried by the force of the wind, just as Shelley wishes the wind would reveal and carry his words. He says as much in a more direct way when he asks the wind to, "drive [his] dead thoughts over the universe / Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth" (63-64). As well as being an excellent simile, it has been speculated that this line acts as a pun, with the word leaves meaning both the leaves of nature and the leaves, or pages, of a book. Shelley refers to his thoughts as "dead" because he believes that once he puts them onto paper, they can only be brought to life by being read by another person. It is not surprising that Shelley compares his words to fire near the end of the section with the simile: "Scatter as from an unextinguished hearth / Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!” (66-67). This is because, first of all, he has already discussed the elements, earth, air, and water, so it seems only fitting to mention the fourth, fire. Secondly, some well-known aspects of fire include: its tendency to spread far and fast, thus today's common phrase, 'catch like wild fire', and the irreversible change it brings to anything it touches. These aspects coincide perfectly with the beliefs Shelley had about how his words could affect the world if only he could acquire the assistance of the wind. The middle of the line, “hearth / Ashes and sparks”, is also an assonance. Shelley may have done this intentionally in order to draw emphasis on the concept of fire for the reasons just mentioned. In the last line of the poem, Shelley asks the rhetorical question, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" (70). In this question, Winter is symbolic of death and decay, whereas Spring is symbolic of rebirth. The reader should associate the terms with their symbolic meanings easily due to the vivid scenes provided through imagery at the beginning of the poem. Shelley is, in short, asking if low times, such as that which countries such as England were facing, are always followed by a change to new, happier times. Imagery and figurative language are highly useful poetic devices because, as was expertly demonstrated in “Ode to the West Wind”, they offer a creative method of presenting information to the reader, help to create smooth transitions between topics, and add nuances of meaning to words and phrases that could not be achieved otherwise.
“Ode to the West Wind” is a very effective poem in the sense that the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, is able to express his intended message to the reader while also keeping them intrigued in the content. From the very first simile, "like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing" (3) to the the rhetorical question the poem ends on, Shelley treats the reader with vivid descriptions, clever word play, and much well-thought out symbolism. Not only do the poetic devices of figuritive language and imagery keep the reader wanting more, but they also act as a key tool for Shelley to emphasize his points and make accurate comparisons to help the reader to fully comprehend his concepts. For instance, the change from a gloomy scene to one of joy and life in the first section could not have been ackomplished so effectively without contrasting comparisons such as: "Each like a corpse within its grave" (8) to "sweet buds like flocks to feed in air" (11). In the following two sections, Shelley takes care to impress upon the reader the sheer power of the wind by pointing out that it is able to shake clouds, or the "Angels of rain and lightening" (18), from "the tangled boughs of Heaven" (17) and to force the sea to "cleave [itself] into chasms" (38). Even when the focus of the poem changes from scenes in nature to the desire of Shelley himself, he continues to interest the reader with his creative presentation of words. For instance, lines such as, "chained and bowed" (55) and, in the fifth section, "Scatter, as from an extinguished hearth / Ashes and sparks" (66-67), create very strong mental images as well as cotributing to the readers overall understanding of Shelley's situation. Though the content of the poem is thorough in delivering Shelley's message, he goes one step farther by organizing the placement of his words on the page to further highlight, if in a subtle way, his beliefs. This use of external form as well as the uses of figuritive language and imagery benefit "Ode to the West Wind" greatly because they make the presentation of the poem fresh and creative while also ensuring that the message of the poem is easilly comprehensable.