Author(s): Dr. Krishna Gajendra Panda
Abstract:
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind is a powerful poem about nature, destruction, transformation, revolution, poetic inspiration, and renewal. Shelley presents the West Wind as an invisible but mighty force that moves through earth, sky, and sea. It carries away dead leaves, spreads seeds, creates storms, and disturbs the ocean. The poet calls it both “Destroyer and Preserver” because it removes what is dead while preparing the way for new life. In the final sections, Shelley asks the wind to free him from weakness and spread his thoughts throughout the world. This paper studies the poem’s literary devices, structure, themes, tone, historical background, audience, and purpose. It also compares Shelley’s ideas with teachings from the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā, Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa, Vachanāmṛta, and other Indian scriptures. These texts similarly present wind as Vāyu or Prāṇa, discuss cycles of creation and destruction, and teach that inner purification is necessary for spiritual renewal. From the perspective of Akṣara–Puruṣottama Darśana, the poem’s movement from dead leaves to spring can be understood comparatively as a movement from old vāsanās and svabhāvas toward ātma-realization, becoming akṣararūpa, and offering devotion to Puruṣottama.
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