A Sense Of Powerlessness In Ode To The West Wind

Many of the literary devices Shelley uses in this lyrical poem theorize the idea that the wind is a barrier breaker and powerful, yet he struggles with a sense of identity. From this poem, one can suggest that it relates to a sense of powerlessness. Ode to the West Wind smooth tone and straightforward use of imagery to infuse the roles of nature presents a clear abstract about spreading his word and getting humanity to realize his identity and read his work. Unlike most poems that has a very different meaning of what they are trying to state, Shelley is not that hard to understand. Take for example “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!” this can be explained as life is tough and it is defeating Shelley at this point. In Ode to the West Wind Shelley is openly honest, he does not hide behind his text and expect us to understand what he …show more content…
He uses the word dead leaf in stanza four to describe his state of being in which he has been trapped in for a period. Shelley wishes that he could be one with the wind to escape entrapment from being unknown and powerless. He wants to spread his works of literature to the rest of the world, and gain hold of some sort of influence or authority. The wind is an allegory for spreading change and reform. Shelley uses this poem to describe the abilities of the wind as well as relations between himself and the wind. In the first few stanzas of Ode to the West Wind, Shelley uses personification, thus giving the wind human like capabilities. “Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserve.” Shelley uses these two words, destroyer as the wind is taking away the last signs of life from the trees and preserver because it is scattering the seeds, which come to life in the spring. The winter and fall seasons for Shelley symbolizes death, despair, and weakness. He draws a line between the season’s cycles of the wind that relates to his changing