Shelleys Ode to the West Wind and Thoreaus essay Walking
Nature is often depicted as a source of inspiration for many writers.Percy Blythe Shelley and Henry David Thoreau express an appreciation forthe divine power and splendor of nature. In Shelley's poem, "Ode to theWest Wind," and Thoreau's essay, "Walking," nature is presented as a divinesource of rejuvenation and inspiration. In "Ode to the West Wind," Shelley reaches for transcendence that isbrought about by the changing of the seasons, indicated by the winds comingfrom the west. These winds of "Autumn's being" (Shelley 1) signify changeand the coming of a new season. For example, the poet declares that thewinds, "whose unseen presence the leaves dead/Are driven, like ghosts froman enchanter fleeing" (3-4). The poet's thoughts are much like the "wingedseeds" (7) that are caught in the dead of the season. The winds are seenas a driving force for the poet, which indicates change in the naturalworld. While the poet acknowledges that it is winter, he also realizesthat winter generally means a dormant stage in most areas of life.However, within these lines, we can see flashes of hope because the poetuses the word seeds, which indicates that new life will bud in the
He asks the winds to: 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! (63-7)With these lines, the poet is offering himself up to nature to be used as avehicle of inspiration. These ideas reflect Shelley's notion that while nature can be wild anduntamed, such as in the autumn winds, there is still knowledge that can bederived from the experience of nature itself. This sentiment is also reflected in Shelley's poem. Genius is a light which makes the darkness visible, like the lightning's flash, which perchance shatters the temple of knowledge itself-and not a taper lighted at the hearth-stone of the race which pales before the light of common day. However, to experience nature, wemust step outside and talk a walk. Thoreau's point is further enhanced with therepetition of walking in his essay. These images bring us to the poet's general idea that the poet wishes forhis dead thoughts blown like withered leaves by the winds. This thought allows the poetto feel as though his words are a part of the endless cycle of nature. This can be seen when the poettells us, "My desire for knowledge is intermittent; but my desire to bathemy head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant" (657). He states: Above all, we cannot afford not to live in the present. Thoreau sums it up perfectly when he tells us, "In short, all goodthings are wild and free" (652). This statement implies that the poet wants his words to reach far andinfluence all of humanity. He envisions that his work will be a lyre to beplayed by the winds in a "deep autumnal tone,/Sweet though in sadness" (60-1).
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