英美文学欣赏The Analysis of Shelleys Ode to the West Wind.docx

1、英美文学欣赏The Analysis of Shelleys Ode to the West WindCentral China Normal UniversityCourse Paper for UndergraduatesTitle The Analysis of Shelleys Ode to the West Wind School (Department) School of Foreign Languages Major Tourism Management Minor English Language and Literature Grade 2010 Name 吴思凝 Stud

2、ent Number 2010214419 Teacher Xiao Xiong Score December, 2012The Analysis of Shelleys Ode to the West WindAbstractOde to the West Wind is one of the most famous lyric poems written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the great British romantic poet in 19th century. In this poem, the poet in order to show the w

3、onder of the sky, the land and the ocean, he used a lot of rich imaginations and new allegories. In his writing, Shelley relied mainly on symbolic features. The west wind is not only the natures wind, but also the wind of revolution. In the surface, Shelley described the natural wind. Actually, he e

4、xpected the storm of revolution through the west wind. By using symbolic features, the west wind becomes more impressive and deep-going.Actually, these are based on the specific historical period and the environment. Through analysis on the background of this poem, this article mainly analyzes from

5、some major aspects like its structure characteristics and figures of speech, especially analyzes the poets emotions. Above all, in the poem, Shelley praised the west wind, expressed his desire to get rid of the reality and to enjoy freedom, and showed his optimism on humans future.Key Words: Shelley

6、; Ode to the West Wind; analysis; appreciation 1. IntroductionPercy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most talented lyric poets in English literature. He has been called “One of the best artists of us all” by William Wordsworth, and Byron praises him “Without exception the best and least selfish man I ev

7、er knew”. So we can see that he was one of the outstanding poets in the poetic world, and this era is known as the romanticism period.The romanticism is an important branch of literature which thoroughly manifested the social characteristic of British during its period, and symbolized for the people

8、s request through literature (Wang Ting, 2011:224). In the history of literature, romanticism is generally regarded as the thought that designates a literary and philosophy theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experiences (Wang Xuefang, 2012:224). So the in

9、timate relationship between literature and society was clearly displayed. The romanticism developed extremely very fast in British, we can see the essence of romanticism reflected specific situation of that period and the needs of society. Ode to the West Wind is one of masterpiece poems of Shelley,

10、 written in 1819. This poem has five parts, respectively in the form of a sonnet. At this time, the poet Shelley lived in Italy，and was at his peak of writing. In the early 19th century, scientific socialism did not born, and the counterforce from feudal nobles and the capitalist class were still ve

11、ry powerful. So the poem unavoidable has the circumlocutory and sad tone. As a pioneer of socialism thought, Shelley showed his optimism on the prospects of revolution and humans future all along, he believed that the justice is sure to overcome the evil. Generally speaking, the rhythm of the poem i

12、s severe and unyielding.Above all, we can know that his poem is said to be the reflection of Shelleys freedom and the spirit of the age. Shelley created “O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumns being” by the combination of his own life and the wild wind. It is fully true that the west wind is the d

13、estroyer as well as the preserver. It is the magnificent sections and chapters that cry out the rhythm of lives and the dance of souls. So we can realize the theme, Shelleys west wind is as a spirit that can destroy every creature in autumn in order to revive in the springtime (Wang Ting, 2011:224).

14、2. The Background of romanticism and Percy Shelleys poemIn the late of 18th century, after the French revolution and the European pantheism, such as the Frances Enlightenment idealism and returning to the nature, English literature has brought a massive literature movement, it was called Romanticism

15、 Literature. At that time in Europe, many countries labor movements and the revolution movements were blustery. The working class in England strived for its own rights to subsistence. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie was in the fierce struggle for the government, fight for their rights, too. Under such co

16、nditions, a kind of patriotic poet was bought out, they used literature to awaken people, and we called them “Romanticism Poets”. They were full of critical spirits and religious feelings, and symbolism was their works main characteristics.There are two genres of the romanticism, one is Lake Poets and the other is Positive Poets. Shelley is one of the most representative poets of the positive, and “Ode to t