Page 62 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

5. In the final section, the speaker asks the West Wind to “Be through my lips to unawakened
earth/ The trumpet of a prophecy!” To what prophecy do you believe the speaker is
referring?

Answers may vary. Example: Before this request, the speaker says he believes the power of
the West Wind could lift him out of his sadness, pushing his “dead thoughts” away and
allowing him the energy to begin again. The prophecy he refers to may relate to these
thoughts: The West Wind is a sort of prophecy of the winter to come; however, the speaker
wishes to remind the world that after winter, spring is not far behind. In life, then, when
sadness prevails, a chance to begin again cannot lurk far off.

6. As a representative of the Romantic poets of the early nineteen-century, Shelley’s poem
can be seen as offering an explanation of the Romantic idea of nature. How does Shelley
(and the other young Romantic poets) view nature?

Shelley views nature as a source of beauty and aesthetic experience (i.e. inspiration).

7. When the speaker prays to the West Wind to scatter his ashes like dead leaves across the
universe, what is he implying about poetic language? How does such a prayer relate to
Shelley's ideas about inspiration and expression?

The speaker’s request implies that poetic language, like nature, does not die, but is reborn
through future generations. His request echoes his ideas about inspiration and expression
because he has gained his ideas from nature and his predecessors as well.

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