第1个回答 2012-04-18
[Commentary]
Of the many revolutionary poems of Shelley, "Ode to the West Wind" is one of his best. It is not only a political poem but also a very lyrical one, in form or content. According to the poet, when he met the storm near the River Arno in Florence, Italy, he was deeply moved by this vehement(猛烈的) natural force, which he associated with the revolutionary storms of the human world.
In the first part of this poem, Shelley describes the wind's power and its role as both "destroyer and preserver." As a destroyer, the west wind sweeps away the dead leaves; as the preserver, it plows the seeds deep into the earth to bloom when spring comes.
In the second part, with images of clouds, rain, lightening, etc., the poet delineates(描绘) the power of the west wind to its extreme when it drives the clouds in the sky.
The third part of the poem finds the poet showing the power of the wind in controlling the waves of the sea, from the tranquil Mediterranean to the turbulent Atlantic.
In the fourth part, the poet expresses his keenly felt feelings and awakened thoughts toward the wind.
The final part of the poem tells how the poet asks of the wind to drive away his dead thoughts, spread his lines to all corners of the world and awaken people who are still in a slumber.
In a word, this poem is a passionate calling to the spirit of the personified west wind. The symbolism in this poem is rich and diverse. The wind is the natural force of regeneration; it is regarded as the force that leads to self-sacrifice, even self destruction, in man's personal life; it represents the invincible(不能征服的) political hopes that drive continually over the unawakened earth; and it is also the very passion of idealism, the aspiration and creativity itself. Shelley's craft in minute images like wind, water, sky, wood, etc., is both mythic(神话,虚构的) and biblical (in that it reveals to us the last scenes of the world like that recorded in the Revelation of the Bible). The total effect is "one of transcendental hope and energy, achieved through suffering and despair." As we see, while the first generation of Romantic poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey regarded nature as the embodiment of truth, the younger generation of Shelley, Byron and Keats largely viewed nature as a source of beauty and aesthetic experience. In this poem, Shelley relates nature to art by working out powerful metaphors based on natural images, and expresses his views on the aesthetic quality in poetry.