Summary and composition

In this section, you can read the summary and composition of “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Summary

The poem “Ode to the West Wind” is an appeal of the poet/speaker to the West Wind. The speaker seems to admire the powers of the wind, whom he sees as an almighty “destroyer and preserver” (l. 14). For the speaker, the wind’s powers seem to originate from “Heaven and Ocean” (l. 17). The wind can drive leaves away; it can plant seeds or bring forceful rains. At the same time, the wind can bring about the force of the seas and instil fear.

After enumerating all the powers held by the West Wind, the speaker asks for the wind’s strength and freedom. Because this seems impossible, the speaker demands to be made the wind’s lyre; he wishes that his thoughts would be blown all over the universe so that mankind would hear them and learn from them.

In the end, the speaker reflects on the fact that the West Wind symbolises the approach of winter. Still, there is an optimistic view of this reflection, as it is always spring’s round to come after winter.

Composition

To have a better grasp of “Ode to the West Wind”, we must deal with both its outer composition (stanzas, verses, graphical expression) and inner composition (beginning, subdivision, course).

Outer composition

The poem “Ode to the West Wind” is structured into five sections written in terza rima. Each of the five sections of the poem is composed of four tercets and a couplet.

Terza rima was a technique which became famous after it was used in Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”. This means that lines are structured in groups of three...