Ode to the West Wind

In “Ode to the West Wind,” a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the speaker expresses his fascination with power and with those forces- both destroyers and preservers- that inspire the same powers within the speaker. The author uses imagery, metaphors, and rhyme scheme to add to the poems meaning. Through word choice, sentence structure, and alliteration Shelley shows that wind brings both good and evil.

The speaker uses his vivid imagery in the poem to paint a picture in ones mind. He uses this imagery as a way to open, or start his poem. From the very beginning the reader can identify with the speaker. The reader knows the speaker’s feelings and can relate to them. “Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed. (1.4-6)” In these few lines the reader can almost be in the scene that the speaker has created. The words used to describe the leaves are vivid words, which makes one think to look for a deeper meaning. The wind can