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Ode to the West Wind
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Ode to the West Wind

poem by Shelley
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Article History

Ode to the West Wind, poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written at a single sitting on Oct. 25, 1819. It was published in 1820. Considered a prime example of the poet’s passionate language and symbolic imagery, the ode invokes the spirit of the West Wind, “Destroyer and Preserver,” the spark of creative vitality. This ode introduced a new stanzaic form composed of five sonnets, each of which has four tercets (units of three lines each). The scheme is based on Italian terza rima, rhyming aba, bcb, cdc, and ded followed by a rhyming ee couplet.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.