西风颂英文赏析

This poem was conceived and chiefly written in a wood, and on a day when that tempestuous wind, whose temperature is at once mild and animating, was collecting the vapors which pour down the autumnal rains. Shelley’s west wind is a “spirit”, the “breath of autumn’s being”, which on earth, sky and sea destroys in the autumn in order to revive in the spring. Around this central image the poem weaves various cycles of death and regeneration----vegetational, human, and divine.

The stanza used in this ode was developed by Shelley from the interlaced three-line units of the Italian terza rima: aba bcb cdc and so on. Shelley’s stanza consists of a set of four such tercets, closed by a couplet rhyming with the middle line of the preceding tercet: aba bab cdc ded ee.

This poem consists of five cantos and each canto is a sonnet. The first canto describes that west wind crushes dry weeds and smashes rotten woods and ay the same time it also sweeps the seeds into earth. The second canto describes that the west wind stirs up the condense clouds and fog and calls the lightning and storm to come. The third canto describes the power of the west wind in land, sea and air. The fourth canto is a turning point, Shelley’s poem turns from describing scene to expressing emotions and he conveys his willing with the west wind. The last canto is the climax of the poem, in it Shelley further expresses the wind will destroy everything.

All in all, it can be divided into two parts. The first part include canto one, canto two and canto three. The first part gives a description of many images but there is only one central idea. That is the west wind has a strong power to eliminate decadent and encourage the new things. The last two cantos are Shelley speaking directly to the wind, asking for its power, to lift him like a leaf, a cloud or a wave and make him its companion in its wanderings.

Symbolism is widely used in this poem. This poem describes the west wind from the beginning to the end. Whether it describes the scenery or expresses his thoughts, the west wind is indispensable in his descriptions. From the surface it seems that Shelley writes about the west wind but actually he uses the west wind to express the revolution. What the author describes about the nature is exactly what he wants to

say about the revolution. The descriptions of the conditions of the seeds, the leaves, the clouds, the lightning, the sea and all other images in this poem are symbol of the development of the revolution.

In this poem, Shelley sings in praise of the west wind. The west wind is not only a destroyer but also a protector.It not only crushes dry weeds and smashes rotten woods but also sweeps the seeds into earth. In fact, by singing in praise of the west wind, he sings in praise of the revolution that sweeps over the whole Europe. He sings in praise of the revolution which fights against all the dark forces in the old world. Shelley love the west wind, he looks forward to the coming of the west wind. It is his soul and he combines himself with the west wind. The measures that Shelley hope the west wind do and the west wind has done are what he hope the revolution and himself can do. In the fourth canto the sentence “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!”expresses that the author willing to devote himself to the revolution. The last sentence “If Winter comes, can spring be far behind?” expresses his conviction to the life and his determination to the revolution. In this poem, the west wind has become a symbolic. It is a kind of universe spirit, a spirit that will break the old world and pursue the new world.