Ode to West Wind

The Study of Shelley’s Ode to the West

Wind

110201157 郑率 英语二班

摘要

我的论文题目是《西风颂》，最伟大的浪漫主义诗歌之一。该作品的作者是著名的英国诗人雪莱。诗人试图用大量的意象来完成一首对天空，海洋和大地的颂歌。更重要的是，诗中的西风不止是自然界的西风，也象征着革命的风暴。事实上，雪莱是想通过这首诗传达他对于自由和解放的追求。

Abstract

My topic is one of the greatest Romantic poems, Ode to the West Wind. This

poem is written by the famous British poet- Percy Bysshe Shelly. The author tried to

use a lot of imaginations to show the lyric of the sky, ocean and land. What matters

most, the west wind is not only the natural west wind, but also the storm of revolution.

In fact, Shelly expressed his desire for freedom and liberation in this poem.

提纲

第一部分：对诗歌进行分层：

第二部分：通过对浪漫主义的引申介绍诗歌创作背景；

第三部分：对诗歌各篇章进行深入介绍；

第四部分：对诗歌核心思想进行总结。

Key words; romanticism; revolution; analysis; freedom; liberation

Division of this poem

Ode to the West Wind contains five chapters, and can be divided into two parts:

the first three chapters present the influence of the west wind on ground, sky and sea,

while the last two chapters show the poet’ s feelings.

In the first part, the author talks about the west wind’ s devastating the old and

decayed things, and burring seeds into the earth and waiting for the arrival of spring.

It shows the strength of west wind over the world by showing its power over the leaves. In the second part, the author expresses his wish to join in the west wind, and

to obtain freedom and reform he desired. Above all, what Shelley want to expressed is

his expectations for revolution. Why didn’ t he talks about revolutions directly. Maybe

it is because the social environment at that time, maybe it is because Shelley is a poet.

But when it come to the ways of expressing in this poet, we have to talk about

romanticism.

About Romanticism

[1]The romanticism is an important branch of literature which thoroughly

manifested the social characteristic of British during its period, and symbolized for

the people’s request through literature (Wang Ting, 2011:224). [2]In the history of

literature, romanticism is generally regarded as the thought that designates a literary

and philosophy theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life

and all experiences (Liu Bingshan, 2004:s74-375). The west wind is the destroyer as

well as the preserver. It is the magnificent sections and chapters that cry out the

rhythm of lives and the dance of souls. So we can realize the theme, Shelley’s west

wind stands for a spirit that can destroy every creature in autumn in order to revive in

the springtime.

Romanticism was divided into two branches, the Lake Poets and the Positive

Poets. Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the greatest positive poets, and “Ode to the

West Wind” is his masterpieces..

Ode to the West Wind is a treasure in English literature, even in the world’ s

literature. The poem is full of enthusiasm in its content, freedom and liberation in its

style. The whole poem has five chapters, and its rhythm is lucid lively and rhyming

aba，bcb，cdc，ded，ee in each chpter. And every chapters can stand alone, because

the rules and forms of poetic composition are integral. The lines of the poem are

ordered and full of rhythms, responding and advancing each other, containing ups and

downs and changes, which just like the nature’s feature. In structure, the sentences are

all brief and neat, the five chapters make up the whole poem, making the thoughts go

forward step by step.

Analysis of this poem

In the first part of the poem, the main image is the west wind, Shelley said the west wind swept through the forest, and the rebirth of a seed. In this poem, withered

leaves were blowing away by west wind like a ghost, and winged leave have also

been sent to the winter nursery bed waiting for the springtime.

Poem begins with the imposing manner of heavy west wind , and it makes all

wood bleak, leaves numerous. It also can destroy the old world, and bring the hope to

the new world. In this section, the important image “leaves” and so on, highlighted

the darkness of the old world, and bury the hope for the hopeful future, this can fully

present Shelley’s spirit of optimism.

In the fourth part, the author imagines that if he were the leaves, clouds, or the

waves, it can let him feel the strength of the west wind. At the beginning of this part,

the poet uses several emotions to express his hope. In this part, Shelley's concentrate

not only on the destructive strength of the west wind, but also focuses on the strength

of the protection of it, he hopes that himself was not fear of violence and bleeding, so

he can fight for revolution.

Last section, the core of this masterpiece, the poet finally set the west wind as a