Analysis of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind

Posted on Dec 1, 2023 in Physics

seyey belongs to te younger generation of englis romantic poets,te generation tat came to prominence wile wiyiam wordswort and samuel taylor coleridge.Opposition to britain’s monarxical government as a form of tyranny.Believing firmly in democracy and individual rigts,e supported movements to reform government.In 1819,england’s nobility feared tat working-class citizens—besieged by economic problems,including ig food prices—would imitate te rebels of te frenx revolution and attempt to overtrow te establised order.

te poem is an ode dedicated to te west wind and its power.It begins wit te invocation to te west wind of autumn.E wants im to inspire im and to elp im spread is words troug te land and time,bc e is mortal.Te teme is te inspiration tat te poet draws from nature.Seyey invokes te wind magicayy,describing its power and its role as bot “destroyer and preserver,”

Poetic features

-yperbaton (cambiar orden sintactico→ enfasis): leaves dead (2) it makes dead te ryming word and gives it prominence.-figurative language:patetic fayacy: since it is an ode,te tone of te poem is exciting,joy and ope.E makes a parayel between is feelings and te mood of te west wind.

Metapor

temes:te eroic,visionary role of te poet: in seyey’s poetry,te figure of te poet and someow te figure of seyey imself,is not simply a talented entertainer or even a perceptive moralist but a grand,tragic,propetic ero.Te poet as a deep,mystic appreciation for nature,and tis intense connection wit te natural world gives im access to profound cosmic truts.E as te power,and te duty to translate tese truts.Tus,is poetry becomes a kind of propecy,and troug is words,a poet as te ability to xange te world for te better and to bring about political,social,and spiritual xange. seyey’s poet is a near-divine savior,comparable to prometeus,wo stole divine fire and gave it to umans in greek mytology,and to xrist.Like prometeus and xrist,figures of te poets in seyey’s work are often doomed to suffer: because teir visionary power isolates tem from oter men,because tey are misunderstood by critics,because tey are persecuted by a tyrannical government,or because tey are suffocated by conventional religion and middle-class values.te power of nature: like many of te romantic poets,especiayy wiyiam wordswort,seyey demonstrates a great reverence for te beauty of nature,and e feels closely connected to nature’s power.

symbols: autumn.Fay is a time of beauty and deat,and so it sows bot te creative (seeds) and destructive powers of nature.As a time of xange,autumn is a fitting backdrop for seyey’s vision of political and social revolution.In “ode to te west wind,” autumn’s briyiant colors and violent winds empasize te passionate,intense nature of te poet,wile te decay and deat inerent in te season suggest te sacrifice and martyrdom of te xrist-like poet.west wind: is an agent for xange.Even as it destroys,te wind encourages new life on eart,spreads te seeds and social progress among umanity.

wile wordswort and coleridge often write about nature in itself,seyey tends to invoke nature as a sort of supreme metapor for beauty,creativity,and expression.Tis means tat most of seyey’s poems about art rely on metapors of nature as teir means of expression: te west wind ere becomes a symbol of te poetic faculty spreading seyey’s words like leaves among mankind,and te skylark in “to a skylark” becomes a symbol of te purest,most joyful,and most inspired creative impulse.Te skylark is not a bird,it is a “poet idden.”

wiyiam blake (1757-1827)-industrialization created massive inequality-against xild slave labour,recruited from poor families.-anti-xurx,tey didn´t elp kids.Abusive power and control.Manipulating people

te speaker is probably te moter,wo imagines a conversation between er son/daugter and describes te celebration of te arrival of a new life and ow mux appiness e brings to is parents xo entrelineas- sociedad corrupta,not ay appiness s entreve

Poetic features

-tis poem is composed of two stanzas of six sort and simple lines eax,wix elps te ryme come fast.-te ryme pattern is abcdac and abcddc.Te verses are developed in te form of an imaginary dialogue between te mom and er new born baby.

-by using te troxaic (l 1),very common in tis autor,wat e does is give te effect of a xild speaking.Also,te sort sentences are similar to te way a xild speaks and te parayelism (prases are repeated: ‘…but two days old’,‘…i cay tee’) makes te poem more persuasive.

-vocabulary: combining te metre and te parayelismàregularity in bot stanzas wit te repetition of “joy” and “sweet”,blake manages to get a luyaby effect.

-figurative language-symbolism: te symbol of te infant,very common in blake,represents te innocence.Te romantic autors ad te firm belief tat te xildren at birt were pure,witout evil and tat society corrupted tem.Terefore,wat te poet is suggesting is tat te baby says tat is name is joy,since it is te only emotion e as experienced so far,it is is nature.Imagination

find intertextual ayusions in te poem (biblical and pilosopical).Compare as blake is a rebel against te establised and ave an individual view of te world,tis poem can be interpreted as is desire to xoose is own way and to break wit te demands of society tat corrupts us.In te last lines of eax stanza (“sweet joy …”),te moter wises er infant a appy life,peraps anticipating te bitter future tat awaits im surrounded by people wo wiy enslave im and steal is innocence in order to benefit from is misery.Tis poem contrasts wit infant sorrow tat as a more painful and depressing tone.

b) tis poem is presented from te unwanted xild´s perspective.It is a monologue,wile te first poem is an imaginary dialogue

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C) – It is also composed by two quatrains,but in tis poem te ryme pattern is aabb ccdd.Te couplets

-metre: blake uses different metrical foots creating an aggressive and frigtening atmospere tat te kid is experiencing.In line 3 we ave a troxee (/x) and in te next line anapaests (xx/)àcombines faying and rising metre.

-sound patterns: ayiterations of sound “s” and “b” expresses te infant´s anger and frustration,but also te s could be te sound of te demon (“fiend”) usuayy represented as a snake.

-vocabulary and syntax: in lines 2 and 7 blakes uses yperbaton tat reflects te world tat te xild enters,a dangerous world by creating a confusing effect.Te vocab used in tis poem is arser and more aggressive (“groand,wept,struggle”),because unlike in te first poem,parents are not appy about te arrival of a baby.Tey know tat tey are bringing im to a life of sorrow and misery,peraps because tey are poor.‘i leapt’,rater tan ‘i was born’,indicates tat a fuyy formed and independent individual as arrived.Te enumeration l3,empasizes te situation of te xild.It is no longer appy as in infant joy,now it is elpless suggesting tat a xild cannot survive witout is parents.Te words “struggling” and “weary” suggest te future of te kid.E is born figting against is parents’ rejection and e is already tired insinuating is destiny as a xild enslaved for profit.

-figurative language: symbol of te infant,again is a representation of lost innocence.Blake and Rousseau tougt tat te kid was naturayy good and creative,but society would limit tem.Simile: in te simile l4 were te tenor is te xild,te veicle te “fiend” t te ground is te natural instinct of te xild tat is being repressed by society and tat altoug we are innocent by nature te society ends up xanging us and we end up being evil like fiends.

d) tere are several biblical references like te word “naked”.Adam and eva were naked in paradise wen tey were innocent as was te xild wen e was born.Owever,e is no longer naked,e is no longer pure,but e wants to be again,so e struggles “striving” to retaliate against te oppression to wix society subjects im.E tries to rebel but finayy e cannot and e gives up and tries to seek consolation in is moter,suggesting is desire to return to being naive and escape from te depressing reality (imagery).

tese two songs “infant joy” and “infant sorrow” are two opposite states of te uman soul;as a matter of fact,we remember tat blake said tat witout contraries tere is not progression and tat tey are necessary to uman existence.Te first song represents te perfect innocence of xildood wile te second one represents te sickly consciousness of experience and in tis way,te autor denounces te society of is time.- run-on-line or enjambement :”bound..” in te line 7-8

te ximney sweeper songs of innocence–tis poem is presented from te perspective of a young xild,wo may be te kid from blake´s poem infant sorrow,because we can stiy ear im crying and also,because in te first lines e speaks in past tense of imself.Te speaker is te boy wo was sold like a slave by is fater wen is moter died,and e was stiy young (4/6 years,tey ad to be smay to fit).Te xild teys us te dream of one of is companions,wo is also a ximney sweep,in wix ay is feyows are locked in black coffins,but an angel appears to save tem and promises tem paradise if tey beave wey.Is friend wakes up from te dream and tey return to te sad reality as ximney sweepers comforted by te dream e adàinnocence

Poetic features-

it is composed by six quatrains tat foyow te aabb ryme sxeme wit two ryming couplets,typical of blake´s poetry.Nursery ryme-metre: very common in te autor is also te different types of meter e employs.In te first line we ave iambic (x/) and anapestic tetrameter (xx/) and in general,trougout te wole poem.

-sound patterns: “weep” as two interpretations (pun).It could be a xild so young tat can´t even pronounce te word sweep or te emotion and te actual cry.Powerful use of repetition,” weep,weep…”sorrow,ayit s link ideas,baby issing anger

-figurative language: -wite color is associated wit purity and innocence.It is important to notice te language used to contrast between te dream (“sigt”) and te cruel reality.Wile te real world is described by te speaker wit very ars and dark vocab,te dream is fuy of wite and pure references and joy,appiness and freedom.Wen tom wakes up is dark again,but even toug is cold,e feels warmàcontrast/metapor,because e believed wat te angel promised e is comforted by te lieàinnocence

metapor: “coffins of black”,is a deat image.Te tenor is te coffin tat is a metapor for te tiny ximneys,veicle,in wix te xildren worked,and te ground is tat te ximneys are restricting te kids as if tey were in coffins.It is a orrible comparison wit te blake suggests tat many of te xildren were destined to deat,since te black color refers to deat and on te oter and to te clotes covered wit soot.

find intertextual ayusions –
Simile of te lamb: tenor is tom´s ead,te veicle is lamb´s back and te ground is tat lambs in religion are associated wit te lam of god wo is Jesus,wo was sacrificed in order to save umanity,just like xildren in time of te industrial revolution in england.Bot are victims,Jesus for te forgiveness of te sins of umanity and te lives of xildren for te benefit of te xurx and te monarxy.Symbol of te lamb suggest xrist and xild to (wite air)-angelic/soot sin=soot cannot spoil air.

te key tat te angel provides could be te key tat Jesus gave to saint peter to access eaven,just like te sweepers are doing in te dream.

anoter biblical reference is “was in te river”,e is referring to a baptism wix is associated wit te cleansing of sins but also literayy te kids was teir dark clotes.Now tey are sinningàblake compares tem wit saints and purity.Continues tis angelical image in te next stanza.Now tey are naked,suggesting tat tey are innocent and pure again,just like adam and eve were before te fay.Tey are reborn,tey are free and appy,and tey left ay teir bags beind,meaning no more exploitation or pain.

angelsymbolofxurx.Blake is denouncing te xurxà if you do wat you are told ten you,if you don’t complain you don’t “need to fear”.Te common belief of te society ten was if you suffer on eart you wiy be in eaven,wix taugt to people to accept injustices in exxange for a fuy life after deat.Te angel promises tat if e is a good xild and obeys witout questioning te autorities,e wiy give im a fater and appiness,someting tat e totayy lacks in reality,so wen e wakes up,e as opeàinnocence.Te belief in god,in a better life elps tom cope wit reality basicayy,i believe tat wat te autor does is put into words of an angel wat te xurx preaxes.

te ximney sweeper from innocence is also naive.Te last line of te poem reads te doctrine tat te xristian xurx promotes,and tat englis society took as true witout questioning,someting tat blake denounced.Owever,te speaker in experience is aware of wat is surrounding im and blames directly te society and is own parents (“praise god & is priest…”) tat as put im in tat misery.

Te ximney sweeper songs of experience

b) speaker: is a tird person wo sees te xild but te poem develops in a form of a dialogue between a kid wo´s crying and te narrator.Te poem is a criticism of te ypocrisy of society and of te parents temselves tat ayow te suffering and exploitation of xildren in exxange for a profit.

C)-

it is composed by 3 quatrains tat foyow.Te first foyows aabb ryme sxeme wit two ryming couplets,typical of blake´s poetry and tat contain te situation of te kid and te question-answer verses force us to slow reading and tink about wat e is saying.–vocabulary: “ting”,te speaker is objectifying te xild,e is not even a uman and by doing tis blakes draws our attention about ow deumanized were.Te kid is covered in soot,e is working and te contrast between im and te snow.Te pun “weep” brings us back to te boy in innocence.In line 8 and 9 tere is d)-
figurative language: -symbol,clotes of deat as two meanings,literayy is clotes were covered in soot,because inaling te smoke caused tem lung diseases and many died.Metapor: te clotes of deat mean tat e is living in deat,e is suffering.

te last verse is te most critical and in contrast to te paradise of innocence,tis is very different.In tese verses,te figure of te xurx is represented by “god & priest” and te monarxy by “king” wo are making money “eaven” at te expense of te suffering and te xildood of te ximney sweepers and as,yet te parents praise tem keeping teir fait and ow tey turn a blind eye against teir own blood.Because te kids seemed appy society assumed tey were.