Ode to the West Wind
[Percy Shelley]
Make the Connection
Quickwrite
The faces of nature range from peaceful to terrifying, and the Romantics explored all of
them. What attracted the Romantics to nature was the aspect philosophers call the
sublime: the wildness, immensity, terror, and awesome grandeur of natural phenomena
like the Alps or violent storms. To experience nature’s power suddenly—whether by
viewing Niagara Falls or by living through a hurricane—is, while terrible, also
exhilarating, even transporting. Why do you think people find such displays of power so
thrilling? What emotions are evoked? Jot down a few thoughts on this topic, or freewrite
about a time when you experienced the sublime in nature.
Literary Focus
Ode
The ode was a favorite poetic form among the Romantics. A long, complex poem—
usually a meditation on a serious topic—the ode provided the Romantics with a form
suited to their introspective, philosophical subject matter. Like many Romantic odes,
Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” looks both outward and inward. It exalts an aspect of
nature—the powerful yet invisible wind—and contemplates the movement of unseen
forces in the poet’s own mind and life.
An ode is a complex, generally long lyric poem on a
serious subject.
For more on the Ode, see the Handbook of Literary and
Historical Terms.
Background
This major lyric, written in late October 1819, was inspired by an oncoming storm near
Florence, Italy, where Shelley was living. It marks, in his creative life, a temporary note
of exaltation after a period of intense grief over the death of his three-year-old son,
William. The ode demands to be read aloud.