1. Creation background:
1. Era background
"Ode to the West Wind" is one of Shelley's "Three Odees", written in 1819. At that time, labor and revolutionary movements were surging in various European countries. In order to fight for its own right to exist, the British working class is launching a heroic struggle with the bourgeoisie, destroying machines and striking one after another. In August 1819, 80,000 workers in Manchester held a massive demonstration. The reactionary authorities sent out the army to brutally suppress it, creating the famous Peterloo Massacre in history. Filled with grief and indignation, Shelley wrote the long poem "The Masquerade of Tyranny" to protest solemnly against the bloody atrocities of the bourgeois government. Since the collapse of the Napoleonic monarchy and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty in France, class contradictions have become extremely acute, and the broad masses of the people are brewing a revolutionary struggle against the forces of feudal restoration. The disintegration of Napoleon's empire also greatly promoted the Spanish people's revolutionary movement against alien oppression and feudal autocracy. In January 1819, the gunfire of armed uprising finally sounded. On the eve of the armed uprising, Heine presented the "Ode" to the Spanish people, sounding the clarion call for the Spanish revolution. In Italy and Greece, the national liberation movement was in the ascendant. Shortly after the publication of Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind", vigorous armed uprisings broke out in these two countries. Faced with the impending revolutionary situation in Europe, Shelley was inspired and inspired by it. At this time, triggered by the natural scene of a storm, this uncontrollable passion immediately rushed out of the chest, spilled thousands of miles, and turned into passionate and generous singing. At this time, the poet was living in Italy and was at the peak of his creation.
2. Creative inspiration
According to Shelley's own note: "This poem was conceived in a forest on the banks of the Arno River near Florence, and the main part was written there. That day , a warm and bracing gale that was pregnant with a storm gathered the clouds that often poured down the autumn rain. As expected, the rain started at sunset, and the storm was mixed with hail, and was accompanied by the south of the Alps. The majestic lightning and thunder unique to the region. "This majestic movement of nature that cleanses the earth and shocks the world triggered the poet's inspiration. As a result, the storms of nature and the human world arose together in his writing, pouring into passionate and impassioned songs, and his most famous lyrical poem "Ode to the West Wind" was born.
2. The west wind symbolizes revolutionary power.
3. Introduction to the work:
"Ode to the West Wind" is a poem by the British romantic poet Shelley. The fifth stanza of the whole poem is always sung around the west wind as a symbol of revolutionary power. The first stanza describes the power of the west wind and its role, and the 14th line points out the destroyer and the protector, which are two themes throughout the poem. The second stanza uses clouds, rain, hail, and lightning to describe the power of the west wind; the third stanza describes the effect of the west wind on the waves; the fourth stanza describes the poet's emotion due to the west wind, and the poet says to the west wind that he wishes himself It is also like a dead leaf being carried away by the wind. Although it is not as free as the unruly rain and wind, it can still share its fierce power. In the last stanza, the poet asks the west wind to help him sweep away the twilight and bring him away. The poems spread to all directions, awakening the sleeping earth. The last two sentences, "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" predict that the revolutionary spring is coming, bringing encouragement and hope to people living in darkness and difficulties. The poem expresses the poet's hatred for the reactionary and decadent forces, his fervent hope and firm belief in the ultimate victory of the revolution and a bright future, and profoundly reveals the objective law that new things will surely defeat old things. The whole poem is majestic and magnificent, with strong characteristics of revolutionary romanticism. Symbols and allegorical techniques are used throughout, with far-reaching implications.