Question

Wind is shown as well as a destroyer. Explain?

Answer 1

Answer:

As a destroyer the wind drives away the pale dry leaves of trees and preserves the seeds in the moist earth for germination in the coming spring-time. Metaphorically in the poem, the 'dead leaves' stand for old ideas and 'winged-seeds' symbolize new ideas that can bring about desired change in the world

Answer 2

Answer:

Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” is a wonderful lyric in the tradition of romantic poetry. In the poem, Shelley considers himself as a poet prophet campaigning for reform and revolution using the ‘Wild West Wind’ to destroy everything that is old and defunct and plant new and progressive, liberal and democratic ideals in its stead. He underlines the forceful aspects of the autumnal wind and calls it both a ‘preserver’ and a ‘destroyer’. The wind destroys with a view to creating space for new creations. This duality of the wind is at the core of Shelley’s poem.

The poet describes the mighty powers of the West Wind both as a destroyer and preserver. As a destroyer the wind drives away the pale dry leaves of trees and preserves the seeds in the moist earth for germination in the coming spring-time. Metaphorically in the poem, the ‘dead leaves’ stand for old ideas and ‘winged-seeds’ symbolize new ideas that can bring about desired change in the world. The West Wind is thus both ‘destroyer’ and ‘preserver.’

As the West Wind is a very powerful force, it causes great commotions on the earth, in the sky and over the ocean. In the sky, the wind breaks the clouds up “like earth’s decaying leaves” that are shaken “from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean”. Shelley compares rain and lightning to angels, and says the wind spreads them both through the sky “like the bright hair uplifted from the head”. The wind spreads the clouds in a way that the entire sky from the dim horizon up to the highest zenith becomes overcast with them. It creates great commotion in the sky. In the third stanza, Shelley presents the operation of the autumnal wind on the seas. The Wind arouses the Mediterranean from its slumber in which the sea dreams about the old palaces and towers submerged in its own blue deep. The Wild Wind then makes a lashing progress through the

Explanation: