Ode To The West Wind

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The various cycles of death and rebirth are examined with reference to the Maenads who were fabled to have destroyed Orpheus’s body and spread it around the world. This is the underlying theme to the poem with Shelley alluding to the breaking of Christ’s body on the cross and how that was essential for humanity to reach salvation. The onslaught of Autumn is the ‘Destroyer’ in one sense but also the ‘Preserver’ as it forms an intricate part of the cycle of life and death. Without the death of Jesus Christ the world would not have been saved and so for life to exist so too must death.


Referred to as an "unseen presence"(l.2) the wind is naked to the human eye. However the physical manifestation of the wind can be felt and it’s effect on nature cannot be ignored. The personification of the wind - "thou breath of Autumn’s being"(l.1) - supports its spirituality. This is further illustrated when Shelley explicitly calls the West Wind "Spirit" ...

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2,3,6). The wind’s role is to spread the dead leaves and this enables the seeds to spread and begin life anew. In this double role of "Destroyer and preserver"(l.14) the force and effect of the wind is experienced. As a creative force the wind inspires Shelley to write this Ode and the breath of the Autumn wind is also the breath that gives voice to words in the poem. The wind is the perfect element for Shelley to examine as it inspires life in nature and also expression through speech.



There is a consistent simile used throughout this poem and it is that of the leaves that are being controlled by the wind. In the first stanza it is the leaves of the trees that ...

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