Why is the West Wind called both a preserver and destroyer in Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind"?

Shelley also names the West Wind the "breath of Autumn's being" in the very first line of the poem, indicating that the West Wind is also the entity that gives Autumn life. He continues to discuss the strength of the West Wind throughout the poem, and he ends with a call to action from the Wind: Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened Earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? While the whole of the poem seems to be melancholy and disastrous, these last eight lines indicate that the speaker finds peace in this autumn of his thoughts; he asks, "can Spring be far behind?" The spring is a symbol of new life and beginnings, so even though the speaker is in the depths of despair throughout, there is a shining light at the end.

Shelley calls the West Wind a destroyer because it strips all the leaves off the trees, tumbles them helter-skelter and piles them up all over the landscape. It is essential to dispersing them. But it also blows the seeds that will be sprouting when the weather turns warm again. And these seeds are scattered among the dead leaves as well as buried under them for protection. As the leaves decay they will provide compost to fertilize the seeds in the spring. The West Wind carries the winged seeds to their "dark wintry bed" where they are safe until "Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow..." That is why the West Wind is both a destroyer and preserver--a destroyer of the old and preserver of the new. O thou,Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,Each like a corpse within its grave, untilThine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)With living hues and odours plain and hill: The new seeds are an essential part of the debris the wind is blowing, and the dead leaves are essential to the germination of living trees, plants and flowers. This is why Shelley concludes his ode with the famous line: O, Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" was written within the Romantic tradition, and utilizes common Romantic tropes such as the personification of Nature and the invocation of pathetic fallacy, wherein Nature has human attributes and motivations. As a great natural power, then, Shelley's "West Wind" is both creative and destructive, a force to which humans are subject. At the beginning of the poem, Shelley describes the West Wind as the "breath of Autumn's being," suggesting a vibrant and living force which drives away dead things before it—"like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing." In this way, the Wind clears the path for new life to emerge, establishing it as a creative force. It is the Wind which "chariotest [conveys] to their dark wintry bed/the winged seeds." While the seeds will lie "each like a corpse within its grave" until summer, without the strong winds of winter, a space could not have been cleared for them to grow in when the time is right. For this reason, the West Wind can be seen as a "preserver," maintaining the cycle of life and death in nature and preserving the balance. At the same time, of course, the Wind's destructive properties cannot be forgotten. As the "dirge of the dying year," its song is a symbol that the havoc of winter is about to be wreaked upon the earth, with the Wind generating an atmosphere from which "black rain, hail and fire will burst." While the coming of winter is a necessary part of a cycle of renewal, the West Wind can also have devastating effects upon those who fall prey to its "uncontrollable" whims.

In an apostrophe to the West Wind (apostrophe: addressing someone who is not present or is dead, or something that is not human as though present and living), Shelly is following an established poetic convention of seeking the guidance, inspiration and attention of the muse of the poem, in this case, the muse is the" wild West Wind." Whereas early poets, through to at least the Elizabethan period, believed their divine inspiration for poetry came from God and imparted spiritual truth that humans craved to know, Romantic poets believed their inspiration for poetry came from nature and imparted truth about nature, human nature, and philosophical musings. Shelly describes the West Wind as something that can be seen only through its force and power, like driving leaves before the wind or blowing seeds to a cold grave. Shelly then turns the topic of the first stanza and speaks of the West Wind's cousin, the Spring wind, that will blow and summons to life the sleeping seeds that will raise "sweet buds" to the air. It is in this context that Shelly calls the West Wind a Wild Spirit that is both a "Destroyer" and a "Preserver": The West Wind destroys the peaceful landscape of autumn by driving life (e.g., seeds, leaves) before it to cold graves, but it is a preserver because it buries, or plants, the seeds of next year's life to be awakened by the Spring wind that blows.

西风为何在Shelley的“Ode对WestWind”中同时调用保护器和毁灭器

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Shelley还命名西风首行中“Austunn的呼吸”,表示西风也是实体给Austune生命继续讨论West Wind整首诗的强度,

将我死神思想遍历宇宙仿佛枯叶重生旁白散射语仿佛从未消散的灰灰和火花中传出我对众人的言语穿透我嘴唇未知地球预言角O风,如果温特到来 Spring会远远落后吗?

整首诗似乎忧郁和灾难性, 八行表示演讲者在秋天思想中求得宁静spring是新生命和新开端的标志, 所以尽管演讲者遍历绝望深处, 底部还是有光线

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雪莉称西风为驱逐器因为它把树叶都从树上除去翻转机头并堆积遍地驱散它们至关紧要但它同时吹播种子当天气变暖种子散落死叶中并埋在树下保护树叶腐烂后提供堆肥以施肥泉种子西风带双翼种子到他们的“黑圆床 ” 安全到Spring姊妹爆前

摇摇欲坠地的长翼种子
都像死尸墓中,直到
春之妹应吹出梦幻之地并填充
滴滴滴滴滴滴滴滴滴
以活色和臭味平原和山坡

新种子是碎片中必不可缺的一部分风吹来死叶对活树树植物和花朵发芽至关紧要正因如此Shelley用名词结语

风温特来时 Spring会远远落后吗

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wordWest风中 Shelley为什么称WestWindery为Distroyer和preter

雪莉的Ode西风写于罗马传统中并使用常用罗马形像个性化化自然传出可悲的谬误自然有人类属性和动机高超自然能力 Shelley的WestWind既有创用又有破坏性,这是人类所依赖的一股力量

首首诗Shelley描述West Wind为“Austumn的呼吸 ”, 表示一种生机勃勃的活力驱散前死物- 仿佛巫师的幽灵逃跑。以这种方式,Wast扫清新生活之道,将之建立为一股创举力风把黑暗圆床/翼式种子归结为创用词。种子会“像死尸一样躺在墓中 ” 持续到夏天,没有严冬之风,但当时间成熟时,空间无法扫清正因如此西风可被视为保护者维护生死循环并维护平衡

同时风的破坏性性能不可忘记以之消亡之年之歌象征着冬季大浩劫即将席卷地球风生成大气层黑雨、冰雹和火会从中爆破。冬季的到来是复元周期的必要部分,西风也会对受“不可控制”奇想者产生毁灭性影响

最新更新8月21日2023