1. Written by: Percy Bysshe Shelley Presentation by: Cam and Dakota
Ode to the West Wind
Written by:
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Presentation by:
Cam and Dakota

2. Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
From England
Wrote “Ode to the West Wind” in 1819 in Italy
Is said to have written the poem while sitting in the woods during a windy October day
While living in Italy, he was depressed about being away from the political and social life in England
Was married to Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein

3. Synopsis and Theme The speaker calls upon the west wind.
He asks it to fill him with a new spirit and spread his ideas.
He wishes that the wind could affects him like it does nature, i.e the life and death of nature.
He wants he west wind to liven his ideas and his feelings, like it livens the trees and wildlife after winter.

4. Who is the “thou”
The thou in the poem is the West Wind. In Europe the West Wind is often known as one of the mildest winds prompting it to be named the most favorable wind . It blows from the west in the direction of east.

5. What is a Paradox?
A paradox is a statement where the speaker seems to contradict themselves but might actually be correct. A paradox in Ode to the West Wind is that nature has the ability affect life in 3 ways, it can kill life, let it remain unchanged, or can rebirth life. Another paradox is that nature has the ability to live forever but in reality it doesn’t in the literal sense.

6. Apostrophe
An Apostrophe in literature is when a poet addresses an absent person, thing, or idea and gives it a certain meaning that pertains to the poem. The biggest example of an Apostrophe in Ode to the West Wind is the wild west wind itself. The wind isn’t directly present in the poem but the poet talks about it. “O wild west wind, thou breath of Autumn's being”