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Romantic Poetry: Sir Percy Shelley
“Ode to the West Wind” 1819
Note: Shelley composed this poem in the woods near Florence, Italy. He described the day of its composition as one “when that tempestuous wind, whose temperature is at once mild and animating, was collecting the vapors which pour down the autumnal rains.” I 1 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, 5 Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest^1 to their dark wintry bed The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until Thine azure^2 sister of the Spring^3 shall blow 10 Her clarion^4 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, oh hear! II 15 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^5 of rain and lightning: there are spread On the blue surface of thine aëry surge, (^1) Chariotest: from the word chariot, to escort or drive to (^2) Azure: blue (^3) “sister of the Spring:” The South Wind (^4) Clarion: Trumpet producing clear, sharp, shrill tones. (^5) Angels: Messengers 1 What is being personified in the first stanza? 2 Who/what are the “Pestilence-stricken multitudes?” 3 Why is the sister of Spring Azure? What color do you think is “Autumn?” 4 Why is the West Wind both a “Destroyer and preserver?”
20 Like the bright hair uplifted from the head Of some fierce Maenad^6 , 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 25 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: oh hear! III Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams 30 The blue Mediterranean, where he lay, Lull'd by the coil of his crystalline streams, Beside a pumice^7 isle in Baiae's bay^8 , And saw in sleep old palaces and towers Quivering within the wave's intenser day, 35 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 40 The sapless foliage of the ocean, know Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear, And tremble and despoil themselves: oh hear! IV If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; (^6) Maenad: A priestess of Bacchus, the Greek and Roman god of wine and revelry (^7) Pumice: Volcanic rock (^8) Baiae’s Bay: Ancient Roman resort near Naples- believed to be where Shelley is writing this poem. 5 What is the wind actually affecting in Part III? Describe the physical scene:
Questions:
- What is an Ode?
- A question about Structure and Tone: Is the poem successful in conveying a sense of breathless excitement?
- What season is the West Wind most associated with? And is this really a positive force the poet should be evoking?
- This ode has been considered a political poem, expressing Shelley's revolutionary sympathies. Can you suggest what else the wind might symbolize?
- How many times is the word “leaves” repeated in this small poem and why is this significant? Is there another meaning for the word leaves? What does it have to do with poetry?
- Do some research! Here are some important dates…you may have heard of some of them… 1776: The signing of the Declaration of Independence in the newly declared United States of America 1789: is the signing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in France 1819 England: Shelley writes “Ode to The West Wind” among other poems. What was going on in Shelley’s world?
- Explain the change of the seasons as a metaphor for revolution.
To a Skylark 1820
1 Hail to thee, blithe^10 Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart 5 In profuse^11 strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, 10 And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. In the golden lightning Of the sunken sun, O'er which clouds are bright'ning, Thou dost float and run; 15 Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun. The pale purple even^12 Melts around thy flight; Like a star of Heaven, In the broad day-light 20 Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight, Keen as are the arrows Of that silver sphere^13 , Whose intense lamp narrows In the white dawn clear 25 Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there. All the earth and air With thy voice is loud, As, when night is bare, (^10) Blithe: cheerful (^11) Profuse: abundant; pouring out (^12) Even: evening (^13) Silver Sphere: Morning Star 2 In Part I (lines 1-30) what does the author primarily describe or focus on? 1 In line 2 the author states: “Bird thou never wert,” if the bird was never a bird then what exactly is the bird?
Rain-awaken'd flowers, All that ever was 60 Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass. Teach us, Sprite or Bird, What sweet thoughts are thine: I have never heard Praise of love or wine 65 That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine. Chorus Hymeneal^17 , Or triumphal chant, Match'd with thine would be all But an empty vaunt, 70 A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want. What objects are the fountains^18 Of thy happy strain? What fields, or waves, or mountains? What shapes of sky or plain? 75 What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain? With thy clear keen joyance Languor cannot be: Shadow of annoyance Never came near thee: 80 Thou lovest: but ne'er knew love's sad satiety^19. Waking or asleep, Thou of death must deem^20 Things more true and deep Than we mortals dream, 85 Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream? We look before and after, (^17) Chorus Hymenael: Marriage song; named after Hymen, the Greek god of marriage (^18) Fountains: sources, inspirations (^19) Satiety: State of being filled to excess (^20) Deem: know
And pine for what is not: Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; 90 Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. Yet if^21 we could scorn Hate, and pride, and fear; If we were things born Not to shed a tear, 95 I know not how thy joy we ever should come near. Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, 100 Thy skill to poet were^22 , thou scorner of the ground! Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow 105 The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
Questions:
- Shelley wrote the poem “To a Skylark” in 1820, just two years before he drowned before the age of 30. In hindsight, what is ironic about the writing of this poem so close to the end of Shelley’s life?
- What form does each stanza take?
- How many lines are in each one? (^21) If: Even if (^22) Were: would be 5 Does the last stanza of the poem hold out a promise for curing society’s ills? What does the author want the bird to teach him? Explain!
