Two themes reflected in “Ode to the West Wind”
Shelley's Ode to the West Wind embodies the theme of rebellion. He was born into a noble family. When he was at school, he was exposed to Enlightenment ideas, which had a great influence on him. Shelley lived in Europe during the Dark Ages, and the social environment was abhorrent. So he wrote this ode to express his dissatisfaction. At the beginning of the Ode to the West Wind, we can sense a perpetual and restless soul. Wild west wind seems to engulf everything on earth. This wild, uninhibited power is exactly what Shelley was looking for. He used the image of the West wind to vent his dissatisfaction with the dark society. Trying to get rid of the mental shackles. “Give me liberty or give me death.” (From the last line of Scottish-American Patrick Henry's speech 1775) Shelley longed to change all this, and the wild west wind was a symbol of his rebellious, free spirit. All in all, the west wind embodies a spirit of freedom and struggle.
Ode to the West Wind also expresses the author's expectation for new things. In the last line of the ode, “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” It announces the end of the destruction and preservation of the west wind: darkness will pass, hope is ahead. In the last section of the poem, the author integrates with the central image of the west wind, and cries for the revolution to wake up the sleeping people and spread the truth to the world. The bright and lofty theme reaches its climax, fully reflecting the poet's firm belief in the victory of the revolution and the spirit of revolutionary optimism. The poet asked the west wind to help him sweep away the twilight and spread his verses to all directions to wake up the sleeping earth. He hoped the dark society would change. He wanted to bring inspiration and hope to people living in darkness and trouble. He looked forward to a better tomorrow, a better life. At the same time, it also shows the idea that the new must replace the old. This is the embodiment of the poet's positive thoughts, calling on people to look forward. One day, this world will be born again. The poet placed his soul in the west wind. And the west wind is the expression of a new age that is rising, a prophecy that new life is being born. Shelley lived at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England, and the industrial revolution meant that a new age was on the horizon.
At that time, the revolutionary movement and industrial revolution in Europe were developing. Faced with such a social environment, the poet expressed his revolutionary enthusiasm in poetry. In the poem, the poet uses a variety of rhetoric for lyricism and scenery. It expresses the poet's love for nature. It also reflects the decay of old things, the vitality of new things, and the expectation and yearning for new things. It is full of optimism.