Ode to the west wind can be divided into two parts: the first three sections are about the nature of "wind"; These three stanzas belong to the same fact, which can be seen from the phrase "Oh, listen!" It is intuitively seen at the end of the three sections. The first three sections show the relationship between "wind" and the speaker, and there is a turning point at the beginning of the fourth section; The focus now is on the speaker, or better yet, the listener, and what he will hear.
A.) Section 1
The first section begins with the alliteration "Wild West Wind". This makes the wind sound exciting. The reader gets the impression that win d is alive because it is "wild"-at this point, it is the embodiment of "wind". Even after reading the title and alliteration, people may feel that "ode" may be positive to some extent. But this is not the case, because the beginning of this poem destroys the feeling of linking wind with spring. The first few lines contain many sinister elements, such as' dead leaves'. In the first section, the inverted sentence of leaves dead(l. 2) emphasizes death and puts the word dead(l. 2) at the end of this line to rhyme with the next line. If this sentence goes on, these "dead" (l. 2) leaves will live as "ghosts" (l. 3) and escape from what scares them. This sentence doesn't end at that point, but continues with a polysemous word. The colorful background makes it easier for readers to imagine what is happening-even in an uncomfortable way. "Yellow" can be regarded as "the ugly hue of skin affected by plague; Although Crazy Red evokes the theme of the poem itself, it also highlights the rhythm that death brings to the public. " There is also a contradiction between the color "black" (l. 4) and the adjective "pale" (l. 4). In the word "chariot est" (L.6), "est" is added to the verb "chariot", probably to indicate the singular of the second person, after the subject "thought" (L.5). The "corpse in the grave" (l. 8) in the next line is in contrast with "Blue Sisters in Spring" (l. 9)-this refers to Dongfeng-Dongfeng's "Plain of vivid colors and smells" (l. 12) is in sharp contrast with the color in the fourth line of this poem, which evokes death. The last line of this section ("Destroyer and Protector", l. 14) refers to the west wind. The west wind is considered as the "destroyer" (l. 14) because it drives away the last song of life on the tree. He is also regarded as a "protector" (l. 14) because he spreads seeds, which will be revived in spring.
B.) Section II
The second verse of this poem is much smoother than the first verse. The "clouds" in the sky (l. 16) are "like rotten leaves on the earth" (l. 16). They are references to the second line of the first section ("leaves dead", l. 2). Through this quotation, the scenery is recalled again. "Cloud" (l. 16) is "shaking down from the tangled branches of heaven and ocean" (l. 17). This may refer to the fact that the boundary between the sky and the stormy ocean is inseparable, and the whole space from the horizon to the sky is covered by stormy clouds. "Cloud" can also be regarded as "angel of rain". From the biblical point of view, they may be messengers, bringing information from heaven to earth through rain and lightning. These two natural phenomena bring about changes with their "nourishing power and illuminating power". Line 2 1 reads "Some fierce priestess ..." (L.21) The west wind is also a part of the second verse of this poem; Here, he is two things at the same time: first, he is an "elegy of the dying year" (l. 23f), and second, he is "a turbulent prophet whose prediction is decisive"; A prophet, who not only brought "black rain, fire and hail" (l. 28), but who "will break" (l. 28). "The Lock of the Approaching Storm" (l. 23) is the emissary of this outbreak: the cloud. In this section, Shelley "extends his vision from the earthly scene of leaves in front of him to the wider turmoil in the sky". This means that the wind is no longer on the horizon, so it is far away from us, but it is directly above us. Clouds now reflect images of rotating leaves; This is a parallel relationship, which proves that we have raised our attention from the limited world to the macro world. "Cloud" can also be compared to leaves; But clouds are more unstable and bigger than leaves. As mentioned above, they can be regarded as messengers of rain and lightning.
C.) Section III
When I began to read the third section, the question that arose was what the subject of the verb "saw" (L.33) might be. On the one hand, it is the "Blue Mediterranean" (l. 30). Taking "Mediterranean" as the theme of the festival, the "syntactic movement" continues, and the fluency of poetry is not interrupted; It is said that "he was lying,/hypnotized by the vortex of the crystal stream,/beside the pumice island in Baie Bay,/and saw ancient palaces and towers in his sleep" (l. 30-33). On the other hand, it is also possible that the poem in this section mentions "wind" again. Then, the verb that belongs to "wind" as the subject is not "lie", but the first line of this section, which reads "Who did you wake up" ... and saw "(L.29,33). However, whether it is "Mediterranean" or "wind"-"Saw" (l. 33), the question is still whether the city seen by one of them is real, so it is a reflection of a city that really exists on the shore on the water; Or the city is just an illusion. Piri is not sure about this either. He said this may be "a creative explanation for tumbling algae;" Or the twinkling sky reflected on the undulating water. " Both possibilities seem logical. To explain the appearance of the underwater world, it may be easier to explain it with realistic things; This may be because the wind can create hallucinations on the water. With its pressure, the wind "will awaken the appearance of a city". Judging from the contents of the last two sections about "wind", it is obvious that "wind" is something that plays the role of creator. It doesn't seem to matter whether the wind creates real things or hallucinations. Compared with previous sections, the third section seems to show a turning point. Although Shelley has accepted the change of death and life in the first and second verses, he now turns to "longing for memory [,memory] as a transcendental alternative possibility". From line 26 to line 36, he gives a natural image, and line 36 begins with the sentence "so sweet that the feeling of describing them is blurred" In fact, the picture that Shelley gave us here seems to be "sweet" (l. 36). "Sea flower" (l. 39) may be a plant at the bottom of the ocean, giving people a quiet scene of the underwater world. But if we look at line 36 more carefully, we will find that this sentence is not what it seems at first glance, because it obviously means "so sweet that people feel dizzy when describing them." This shows that the idyllic picture is not as it seems, and harmony will certainly be destroyed soon. A few lines later, Shelley suddenly talked about "fear" (l. 4 1). This once again shows the influence of the west wind, which announces the change of seasons.
D.) Section IV
The first to third sections start with "Ah, wild west wind" (l. 1) and "You ……" (L.15,29) and are obviously aimed at the wind, with a change in the fourth section. The focus is no longer on the "wind", but on the speaker who says "If I ……" (Article 43f). Before this part, the poem looked nameless and only focused on "wind" and its power, so the author of this poem was more or less forgotten. Piri called it "the suppression of personality", which finally disappeared in that part of the poem. It is becoming more and more clear that the author is talking about himself now. This must be true, which shows the frequency with which the author uses the first person pronouns "I" (l. 43, 44, 48, 5 1 54), "My" (l. 48, 52) and "I" (l. 53). These pronouns appear nine times in the fourth quarter. Of course, the author wants to dramatize this atmosphere so that readers can recall the scenes in the first to third verses. He achieved this goal by using the same pictures in this section as in the previous section. However, these pictures, such as "leaves", "clouds" and "waves" only exist with "wind", and now they exist with the author. The author wants to be one of them and says, "If I were a ..." (Article 43ff). Shelley identifies himself with the wind here, although he knows that he can't do this, because one can't put aside everything he has learned from life and enter a "pure real world". Shelley is deeply aware of the closeness of his life and his identity, and shows his orders in line 53. There he said, "Oh, lift me up like waves, leaves and clouds". He knew it was impossible, but he didn't stop praying for it. Shelley saw that the only chance to make his prayers and wishes for a new identity with the wind come true was through pain or death, because death led to rebirth. Therefore, he wanted to "fall on the thorns of life" and "bleed" (l. 54). At the end of this section, the poet tells us that "the heavy weight of time has been bound". This may refer to the past years and "chain and bow" (l. 55) the hope and literal imprisonment of those who fought for freedom. With this knowledge, the west wind becomes another meaning. The wind is "uncontrollable" (l. 47) and "untamable" (l. 56). It is also worth mentioning that this section sounds like a poet's prayer or confession. This confession doesn't mention God, so it sounds inhuman. Shelley also changed his use of metaphor in this section. In the first section, the wind is a metaphor and has been explained in detail. Now, these metaphors are only weakened-"the thorns of life" (l. 54). Shelley also neglected the fourth element: fire. In the previous sections, he described the earth, air and water. The reader is expecting a fire now-but it's not there. This leads to the destruction of the symmetry of this poem, because the reader does not encounter fire until the fifth verse.
E.) Section 5
The wind is also very important in the last section. Wind becomes an artist or a creator of sound with its "powerful harmony" (l. 59). At the beginning of this poem, "wind" can only blow away the leaves on the tree. In the previous section, the poet associated himself with the leaves. In this section, "Wind" can now use the two things mentioned above. Everything mentioned before is a part of the elements-wind, earth and water. Now the fourth element appears: fire. There is also a conflict in this section: Shelley wrote "Your Me" on line 57, and "Your Me" on line 62. This "marks the restoration of confidence, if not for the poet's own ability, at least for him and [...] Feng". It is also necessary to mention that the frequency of first-person pronouns reappears is very high; But the possessive pronoun' my' is dominant. Unlike the frequent use of "I" in the previous section, which made this section sound self-conscious, this section may now sound self-owned. This section is no longer a request or prayer like the fourth section-it is a request. The poet became an instrument of the wind-his "lyre" (l. 57). This is a symbol of the poet's own passivity to the wind; He became his musician, and the breath of the wind became his breath. The poet's attitude towards the wind has changed: in the first verse, the wind was a "magician" (l. 3), and now the wind has become a "spell" (l. 65). There is another contrast between the last two stanzas: in the fourth stanza, the poet expresses himself in singular: "a leaf" (L.43,53), "a cloud" (L.44,53), "a wave" (L.45,53) and "one is too much like you" (L. In this section, "fragile personality consciousness leads to self-doubt", and what is the biggest fear is "not tamed, quick and proud" (l. 56) and will remain "chain and bow" (l. 55). The last section is different. The poets in this section use plural forms, such as "My Leaves" (L.58,64), "Your Harmony" (l. 59), "My Thoughts" (l. 63), "Ashes and Sparks" (l. 67) and "My Lips" (l. 68). By using the plural, the poet can show that there is some peace and pride in his words. He even seems to have redefined himself because the uncertainty in the previous section has been blown away. "Leaves" merge with the leaves of the whole forest, and "will" become an integral part of a huge and harmonious noise. The use of this "will" (l. 60) certainly refers to the future. Through the meaning of the future, the poem itself not only sounds like something that may happen in the past, but it may even be a "prediction" of what may happen in the future (l. 69). Finally, Shelley called for the wind again, in a way of praying, and even hoped that he would become "his" soul: he said, "My soul! "You are me, impulsive person!" (article 62). Just like the leaves in the forest, their leaves will fall and rot, and maybe they will flourish again soon when spring comes. This may be why he looked forward to spring and asked S at the end of the last section,' If winter comes, can spring be far behind?' (L.N. 70). This is of course a rhetorical question, because it is indeed spring after winter. This problem has a deeper meaning, not only the change of seasons, but also death and rebirth.
Poetry like this has a prediction for all of us, which helps us to think about the term "poetry" itself. Carols tell us that rebirth can be achieved through spiritual growth. The last few lines of this poem emphasize this idea and bring the theme of regeneration and decline to people's hearts in a very clear way.
Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_the_West_Wind