CC - IX: P. B. Shelley : Ode to the West Wind Short Answer Type question

  1. Why does the West wind strike Shelley as 'Destroyer' and 'Preserver'?

-To Shelley ,the west wind is the sprit of destruction and regeneration. The West wind is called 'Destroyer' because it drives away the dead and decayed leaves in late Autumn and also conducts the seeds, apparently cold and dead, to their graves in winter, but the graves are also cradles in which they are to be reborn in the spring. It performs the role of a 'preserver' because it preserves the seeds by driving them underground so that they may germinate and sprout in spring. This dual aspect of the west wind, the terrible force of destruction and abundance of creative energy, is a subject of infinite wonder and admiration to the poet. The theme of death and rebirth is announced here.

2. Who is Maenad? What does the poet mean to say by referring to maenad? 

 

- According to classical mythology, Maenad is a frenzied woman worshipper of Bacchus, the Greek God of wine and revelry. She is represented as a woman with disheveled locks of hair.

                            By referring to Maenad, the poet means to say that the clods floating on the surface of the west wind are compared to the loose, bright hair of Maenad in a frenzied state of drunkenness.    

3. What is 'Pumice isle'?

   

- 'Pumice isle' is an island formed by the deposit of lava from Vesuvius. Such islands are found in the Mediterranean. The poet imagines that the Mediterranean, which is soothed to sleep during summer by the wave  of its transparent currents of water beside a 'pumice isle' is roused by the effect of the west wind .

4. where is 'Baiae's bay' ? 

- 'Baiae's bay' is the part of the ocean situated on the Western coast of Italy near Naples. It was the favorite sea- side resort of the ancient Romans. The Roman palaces which were once situated on the shore of the ocean are now submerged in it. The Mediterranean sea, as it was dreaming of those palaces( lying under the surface of  water) which seem to quiver on account of the tremulous motion of the waves caused by the west wind.

5.Why does  Shelley describe the Leaves as "pestilence-stricken multitudes"?

- Shelley describes the leaves as "pestilence-stricken multitudes" because in the late Autumn the leaves are afflicted with decay like men suffering from some consumptive disease. In fact, the leaves of different trees assume different colors when  they become withered. These dry and withered leaves appear like people stricken with some deadly disease  like pestilence. Just as the complexion of diseases person changes, so the colour of the leaves also changes in Autumn.

6.Comment on the concluding couplet of Shelley's  "Ode to the West wind" ?

/ Comment on the ending of the poem? 

- Shelley's poem "Ode to the West wind" ends with these lines -"The trumpet of a prophecy! O wind,/ If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" Which, undoubtely breath a note of bold optimism. The poet is confident that old traditional thoughts will fly away like ashes by the incantation of this verse and a new society will emerge. In fact, destruction, the sweeping away of the old, is necessary before recreation can begin. Death is only the prelude to renewed life. In this respect, decay and desolation of winter are followed by the rebirth and regeneration in spring. The poet, inspired by the mighty activities of the west wind, hopes that his new ideas and thoughts will bring about a revolution and reformation in the society and will give birth to a new age of happiness and hopefulness. so, the poem ends on a prophetic note.

7. Who is called the 'azure sister' of the west wind and why?

- The spring wind or vernal wind that blows under the blue sky is called the 'azure sister' of the west wind. 'Azure' means blue, suggesting thereby that spring time west wind brings clear blue sky; it s conceived as the sister of the wild masculine autumnal west wind  because it is soft and gentle by nature. The poet seeks to suggest that the leaves as well as the seeds of the trees are driven underground by the autumnal west wind; they lie inert each like corpse in winter; with the coming of spring, the vernal west wind will blow over them and will awaken them from their slumber.

8. What is 'terza-rima'?

- 'Terza-rima' is composed of tercets which are interlinked in that each is joined to the one following by a common rhyme - aba, bcb, cdc, and so one. Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the form early in the sixteenth century, but it has not been a common meter in English. Shelley, however, has used it brilliantly in "Ode to the West wind"; the poem consists of five stanzas having three triplets ending in a couplet.

9.  Name two oceans mentioned in stanza III of the poem Ode to the West wind. 

-In stanza III of the poem "Ode to the West Wind" , the two Oceans- i.e. the Mediterranean and the Atlantic- are mentioned. Here, the poet speaks of the West wind as the sprit of terror- the same wind which ruffles the surface of the Mediterranean also cleaves the Atlantic into chasms and frightens the submerged vegetation of the ocean. The soft, light-toned Mediterranean picture giving place to the somber depths of the Atlantic.

10. Why does the poet want to share the  energy of the West wind ?

- In the fourth stanza of  the poem "Ode to the west wind", the poet wants to share the energy  of the west wind because he has suffered from the ills of life("I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!"); he has been crushed by the weight of the world ("A heavy  weight of hours has chained and bowed"). In fact, the poet's own sense of oppression and constraint is related to the wind's freedom and strength. Actually, the west wind represents a force that destroys the old for precipitating the advent  of the new. So, the poet, in his despondency, would like to be a dead leaf, a cloud or a wave to be swept along by the wind's power. He feels that the west wind could be of immense help for bringing about renovation in his psychic world. he wants to be indomitable ('tamales'), impulsive ('swift') and defiant ('proud') like the west wind because of his suffering from the injustices, oppressions and exploitations of the society.

11. What does the poet pray to the west wind in stanza V of the poem?

- In the stanza V of the poem "Ode to the West wind", the poet envisages the forest as a kind of lyre in the hands of west wind which produces melodious sound as it blows through the forest. similarly, the poet prays to the west wind to sweep through his mind to drive away his dead or worn out thoughts and bring out the revolutionary thoughts lying latent in it. As a force of death and rebirth, the wind is one manifestation of the creative principal that runs through  the whole universe. Destruction, the sweeping away of the old, is necessary before recreation can begin as implied in the opening stanza(for the wind sweeps away leaves and seeds together) and in the fifth stanza( the withered leaves themselves provide the soil in which the new seeds can grow).