Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Categories: WB SLST 2025 English Prep – Class IX & X
About Course
Master “Ode to the West Wind” by P. B. Shelley for West Bengal SLST 2025 (Class IX–X) with our specialized online course. This comprehensive course offers line-by-line explanations, detailed summaries, literary analysis, and exam-focused MCQs aligned with the WB SLST English syllabus. Designed for self-paced learning and exam readiness, the course explores key themes such as nature, revolution, and transformation, as well as Shelley’s use of symbolism and poetic devices. Ideal for WB SLST aspirants, English literature students, and school-level educators, this course provides structured, syllabus-based content to deepen understanding and boost confidence for the exam.
What Will You Learn?
- Line-by-line explanation of Ode to the West Wind
- In-depth analysis of key themes, symbols, and imagery
- Historical and literary context of the poem
- Summary and interpretation suitable for WB SLST
- Important figures of speech and poetic devices
- MCQs and probable exam questions with answers
- Tips to write high-scoring answers in the exam
Course Content
Full Text
Ode to the West Wind
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
I
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
With living hues and odours plain and hill:
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!
II
Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky’s commotion,
Loose clouds like Earth’s decaying leaves are shed,
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread
On the blue surface of thine aëry surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge
Of the horizon to the zenith’s height,
The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge
Of the dying year, to which this closing night
Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre,
Vaulted with all thy congregated might
Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere
Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!
III
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,
Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay,
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers
Quivering within the wave’s intenser day,
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou
For whose path the Atlantic’s level powers
Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below
The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,
And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!
IV
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share
The impulse of thy strength, only less free
Than thou, O uncontrollable! If even
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven,
As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed
Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne’er have striven
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed
One too like thee—tameless, and swift, and proud.
V
Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Line by line analysis of the poem
🌀 CANTO I
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
The speaker addresses the West Wind as a wild and powerful force, calling it the very spirit (or "breath") of Autumn.
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
The wind’s invisible force causes the dead leaves to scatter.
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,
The leaves are compared to ghosts fleeing a magician, suggesting something eerie and supernatural.
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Shelley lists the colours of autumn leaves, implying death and disease.
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
The leaves are described as a diseased crowd, driven away by the wind.
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The wind carries (like a charioteer) the seeds to the earth to lie dormant during winter.
The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Seeds, like winged spirits, are buried in the soil, waiting for rebirth.
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
A simile compares the seeds to corpses, deepening the death imagery.
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Spring (sister of Autumn) will later awaken these seeds.
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
Spring’s trumpet (clarion) will awaken life in the sleeping earth.
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)
Spring brings life as buds rise like flocks of sheep.
With living hues and odours plain and hill:
Spring fills the land with colour and fragrance.
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
The West Wind is acknowledged as an omnipresent force.
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!
The wind is both a destroyer (of old life) and a preserver (by burying seeds for rebirth). The speaker begs it to listen.
🌩️ CANTO II
Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky’s commotion,
The wind moves high above, stirring chaos in the sky.
Loose clouds like Earth’s decaying leaves are shed,
Clouds are compared to dying leaves floating through the sky.
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,
The clouds are imagined as being shaken from the branches of the sky and sea.
Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread
These clouds are personified as angels who bring rain and lightning.
On the blue surface of thine aëry surge,
The sky is described as a blue wave upon which clouds float.
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
A simile likens clouds to flowing, lifted hair.
Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge
A Maenad (a wild female follower of Dionysus) symbolizes passion and chaos.
Of the horizon to the zenith’s height,
The wind stretches from the horizon up to the sky’s highest point.
The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge
The wind becomes the song (dirge) for the dying year.
Of the dying year, to which this closing night
The year is ending; the night is its funeral.
Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre,
The sky becomes the tomb’s dome.
Vaulted with all thy congregated might
The sky is full of the wind’s power: storm clouds, lightning, thunder.
Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere
These vapours form the thick, heavy air of the storm.
Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear!
The storm will unleash violent weather: rain, lightning ("fire"), and hail. The plea "O hear!" is repeated.
🌊 CANTO III
Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams
The wind wakes the Mediterranean Sea from its peaceful summer slumber.
The blue Mediterranean, where he lay,
The sea is personified as a sleeping being.
Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams,
Gentle waves had lulled the sea into sleep.
Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay,
The setting is Baiae, a coastal town in Italy famous for its beauty.
And saw in sleep old palaces and towers
The sea dreams of sunken ruins beneath its waves.
Quivering within the wave’s intenser day,
The ruins shimmer under the water’s surface.
All overgrown with azure moss and flowers
The ruins are covered with sea plants, adding beauty and mystery.
So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou
The beauty is so intense, it overwhelms the senses.
For whose path the Atlantic’s level powers
The Atlantic Ocean also parts to make way for the West Wind.
Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below
The sea splits to allow the wind to pass.
The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear
Sea vegetation is disturbed by the wind’s force.
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Even the lifeless underwater plants react to the wind.
Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear,
These plants grow dull or "grey" in terror of the West Wind.
And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear!
They tremble and shed parts of themselves—again, the speaker pleads to be heard.
🌪️ CANTO IV
If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear;
The speaker wishes to be like a dead leaf, carried by the wind.
If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee;
Or a fast-moving cloud, flying alongside the wind.
A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share
Or a wave, pulsing under the wind’s force.
The impulse of thy strength, only less free
He wishes to share the wind’s strength and freedom.
Than thou, O uncontrollable! If even
He acknowledges the wild, uncontrollable nature of the wind.
I were as in my boyhood, and could be
He reminisces about his youth, when he felt free and energetic.
The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven,
He wishes he could roam the skies like the wind once again.
As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed
In his boyhood imagination, he could outrun the wind.
Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne’er have striven
He regrets losing that connection with nature as he grew older.
As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.
Now, in his suffering, he must beg the wind for help.
Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
He asks the wind to carry him like the elements it controls.
I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!
He expresses deep emotional pain and suffering.
A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed
Time and life's burdens have made him weary and defeated.
One too like thee—tameless, and swift, and proud.
He once had the same spirit as the wind: wild and free.
🔥 CANTO V
Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:
He pleads to become the wind’s instrument (like a lyre or harp).
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
Just like the forest loses its leaves, he’s aging or losing his creative energy.
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
The wind produces powerful, chaotic music.
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Together, their voices will be shaped by the tone of autumn.
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
He embraces the bittersweet beauty of this union.
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
He wants the wind to enter his spirit or become one with him.
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
He wants the wind to carry his old or dead ideas far and wide.
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
These thoughts may inspire renewal or revolution in others.
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Through the power of his poetry (this very poem),
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Let his words fly like sparks from a fire still burning.
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
His poetry should spread like fire, stirring minds everywhere.
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth
Let him be the mouthpiece of inspiration to the dormant world.
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
He wants to proclaim a powerful message like a prophet’s trumpet.
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
The closing line is both a literal and symbolic message of hope and rebirth—even after the darkest times, renewal will come.
Summary of the poem
🌬️ Overview of the Poem
"Ode to the West Wind" is a passionate plea from Shelley to the powerful West Wind—a natural force that he personifies as a destroyer of the old and a bringer of renewal. Written in 1819, this Romantic poem reflects the poet’s hope that his words and revolutionary ideas will spread like the wind and inspire transformation in the world.
🔵 CANTO I – The Wind as Destroyer and Preserver
Shelley begins by addressing the West Wind as a wild and mighty force of nature, calling it the "breath of Autumn's being." He describes how the wind sweeps away dead leaves like ghosts, making way for new life by carrying seeds to the earth where they lie dormant until spring. Thus, the wind becomes both a destroyer (of the old) and a preserver (of the future). Shelley admires its power and pleads for its attention: “Destroyer and Preserver, hear, O hear!”
🔹 Themes: death, rebirth, the duality of nature
🔹 Imagery: ghosts, chariots, corpses, seeds, graves
⚡ CANTO II – The Wind in the Sky
In the second canto, Shelley portrays the West Wind’s power in the sky. It drives storm clouds like dying leaves and spreads “angels of rain and lightning.” These clouds are the harbingers of storms, signaling the end of the year. The sky becomes a gigantic funeral vault for the dying year, filled with clouds, thunder, and lightning. Shelley again pleads with the wind to hear him.
🔹 Themes: storm, chaos, natural cycle
🔹 Imagery: clouds as Maenads, stormy sky as a tomb, lightning, hail
🌊 CANTO III – The Wind Over Water
Here, Shelley describes how the West Wind awakens the seas. The Mediterranean, once calm and dreaming of past glories, is stirred from its slumber. The Atlantic Ocean also responds to the wind, with waves splitting and sea plants trembling in fear. The wind’s reach is shown to be universal, affecting land, air, and sea.
🔹 Themes: natural power, interconnectedness
🔹 Imagery: underwater ruins, sea moss, trembling ocean flora
🧍 CANTO IV – The Poet’s Personal Lament
This canto is deeply personal. Shelley longs to be one with the West Wind—to be lifted like a leaf, a cloud, or a wave. He remembers his own youth when he was as “tameless, and swift, and proud” as the wind. Now, burdened by pain and the passage of time, he feels weak and crushed by life. He pleads for the wind to uplift him, to restore his energy and passion.
🔹 Themes: human suffering, loss of youth, yearning for freedom
🔹 Imagery: thorns of life, bleeding, chains of time
🔥 CANTO V – The Poet as a Voice of Revolution
In the final section, Shelley asks the wind to make him its instrument—like a lyre, just as it plays the forest. Though his own creativity and energy may be fading, he wants his thoughts to be spread like dead leaves—to inspire renewal. He believes in the power of poetry to awaken people and become a “trumpet of prophecy.” The poem ends with the famous line:
“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
This expresses hope and the certainty of renewal, no matter how bleak the present may be.
🔹 Themes: art as a vehicle for change, hope, political awakening
🔹 Imagery: lyre, ashes and sparks, trumpet, rebirth
✨ Key Themes of the Poem
Nature’s Power: The West Wind dominates earth, sky, and sea.
Death and Rebirth: Old leaves die, but seeds promise future growth.
Revolution and Renewal: Shelley calls for change in both nature and society.
Art and Prophecy: The poet’s voice, like the wind, can awaken and transform the world.
Personal Suffering: Shelley expresses his own despair, but finds hope in the power of the wind.
📌 Famous Quotation
"If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"
🔹 Symbol of eternal hope — no matter how hard the times, better days will come.
Written and published year
✅ Written in: 1819 (during autumn, while Shelley was in Florence, Italy)
✅ Published in: 1820 (in his collection titled "Prometheus Unbound, with Other Poems")
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