Ode to the West Wind

Ode to the West Wind was written in 1819 by Romantic-era poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. During the time of the poem’s composition, England was experiencing political unrest and upheaval as well as widespread unemployment and famine. Matters came to a head during a protest in August 1819 when soldiers fired on civilians in what came to be known as the Peterloo Massacre.

These events were possibly on Shelley’s mind when he composed the poem, which can be read as a metaphor of winter turning into spring to represent the people of England finding renewed strength and determination after a period of suffering. The West Wind in the poem serves as a kind of rallying cry for revolution as it travels and inspires people to help England experience a kind of rebirth.