Ode to the West Wind
by Percy Shelley
(Stanza 2; lines 15 – 20)
“Thou on whose stream, mid the steep sky’s commotion,
Loose clouds like earth’s decaying leaves are shed,
Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean,Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread
On the blue surface of thine a{:e}ry surge,
Like the bright hair uplifted from the head”
According to Edmund Burke, sublime images conjure up a myriad of emotions ranging from fear, joy, surprise, horror, pain and excitement all in one sensational moment in our experiences. In the sublime there is an element of drama and spontaneity that captures the audience’ undivided attention. In the above extract from Ode to the West Wind, the reader is transported into a scene where the winds are raging and the vision of the skies depicting imminent gloom. From the lines “shook from tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean” we are almost awestruck with wonderment and fright at the vision of forces of both Heaven and Ocean coming together at the same time. This image evokes a sense of fear of a detriment that is about to be unleashed with the strength of the howling winds upon anyone who is caught in the midst.
While the reader prepares for the worst referenced by the “commotion in the sky”, the “angels of rain and lightning … like bright hair uplifted from the head” tends to soften the blow. The symbolism of bright haired angels, evokes a sense of calm and protection that one would not usually associate with tumultuous rain and lightning.
Shelley’s description of the West Wind becoming riled and unraveled, and how the rest of nature and by extension civilization around it reacts to its passing brings the sublime into perspective with a less attractive view of wind. The wind is not described as being calm or massaging but to the contrary a shadow of gloom is painted and a sense of imminent destruction is contemplated.
