Ode to The West Wind - Context - Form - Content - Chalkboard tutorial

Ode to the west wind was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1819 while living near Florence, Italy. It was published in 1820. In this video we will try to crack the context, content and form of the poem step by step through summary, themes and detailed analysis. This is chalkboard and I am your friend Dorian Grey. Stay with me. Ode to the west wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley Context It was 1819. The peterloo massacre happened in England and the poem was written in Italy. We will learn in the poem that the poet wants to somehow cover the distance. The poem will answer two questions. First, Why should he do so? And then, How should he do so? In the context section we will deal with the why part. We should first know about the peterloo massacre. The Peterloo Massacre (1819) The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 had resulted in periods of famine and chronic unemployment. By the beginning of 1819, the pressure generated by poor economic conditions had enhanced the appeal of political radicalism. In response, the Manchester Patriotic Union, a group agitating for parliamentary reform, organised a demonstration to demand the reform of parliamentary representation. Shortly after the meeting began local magistrates called on the military authorities to disperse the crowd. At St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819, Cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000�80,000 and 15 people were killed and 700 were injured. The massacre was given the name Peterloo in an ironic comparison to the Battle of Waterloo, which had taken place four years earlier. At the time of composing this poem, Shelley had the Peterloo Massacre in mind. Shelley wrote "Ode to the West Wind" while sitting in the woods near the Arno River on a windy day in October. Although he loved Italy, he was feeling depressed about being detached from the political and social scene back in his native England. As a political, religious, and literary radical, Shelley was heavily invested in his own ability to influence society. The poem allegorises the role of the poet as the voice of change and revolution. Content and theme What is an ode? Ode is a form of lyric poetry, expressing emotion, addressed to someone or something. What is west wind? It is a wind that blows from west to east in October, that is in Autumn. But what does west wind do? It sweeps away the dead leaves of October and carries the seeds to their dormant rest in the earth during the winter only to be nurtured later in spring. Hence, Associated with autumn, the West Wind brings with it decay and the certainty of a wintry death, but it also makes a spring rebirth possible by clearing away the old dead leaves and planting seeds. Blowing from the west suggests an association with the revolutionary, liberating aspects of the young United States, or perhaps simply a favorable wind for ships returning home to ports in Europe. The main theme is transformation. The poet contemplates the links between the world of nature and the realm of the intellect. Autumn symbolizes maturity, saturation and stasis. Winter represents destruction, death and despair. And spring stands for reform, rebirth and renewal. Life is going through the three stages of transformation. But what is the driving force? What enables the seeds to rest during the cold of winter to be nurtured later in spring? It is Westwind. But how does the poet relate to it? He is chained and bowed by the weight of the hours. He cannot move. But his words can. The social stimulus gives him the trigger, and he writes a poem that can inspire his readers. His words and ideas of reform and revolution, of liberty and democracy can be spread among the fresh minds for regeneration. So he invokes the west wind to do the same with his idea that it does with the leaves, clouds and waves. To help them reach out to the promise of reformation. Now we will try to deal with the form and structure of the poem. Form and structure The poem "Ode to the West Wind" consists of five sections (cantos) written in terza rima. The fact that it was written near Florence, Dante's city, may explain why Shelley used terza rima, the stanza of Dante's Divine Comedy, but rare in English poetry, in the ode. Shelley modified the pattern by ending each of the five sections of the poem with a climactic couplet. In the three-line terza rima stanza, the first and third lines rhyme, and the middle line does not; then the end sound of that middle line is employed as the rhyme for the first and third lines in the next stanza. Hence the pattern is aba, bcb, cdc, ded. Shelley modified the pattern by ending each of the five sections of the poem with a climactic rhyming couplet (ee). The Ode is written in iambic pentameter. The first three cantos describe the wind's effects upon earth, air, and ocean. In the last two cantos, the poet speaks directly to the wind, asking for its power, to lift him up and make him its companion in its wanderings. The poem ends with an optimistic note which is that if winter days are here then spring is not very far. I hope you will find this helpful. In the next video we will go through the line by line detailed analysis of the poem. As soon as we publish it, the link will be updated. Till then feel free to ask any question in the comment section below. Like it if you like it. Share this with your friends in need. subscribe for timely updates. Keep in touch. Enjoy life!