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Is Shelley an escapist or an optimist in "Ode To The West Wind"?
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Percy Bysshe Shelley is both an escapist and an optimist in “Ode to the West Wind.” While the west wind seems to blow destruction, it actually plants the seeds that will bloom in the spring, and it creates a majestic beauty in the sea. The poet wishes he could escape with the wind and share its “mighty harmonies” and its spirit.
I think Percy Bysshe Shelley is being unquestioningly optimistic in his poem "Ode to the West Wind." The early sections of the poem repeatedly reference the seasons. The west wind plays the role of helping continue the cycle of seasons by pushing fall into winter. The leaves that the wind blows away are called "a pestilence" and later are the symbol of the "dying year." Still, this death is not permanent, and that is what the west wind helps us to remember. It cleans the earth and tucks it in to rest so that spring may come again.
In section 5, we can see that Shelley feels sad and that he is dying with the year, but his optimism and desire to feel joyous again is clear in the lines
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like wither'd leaves to quicken a new birth!
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This is a great question to consider in relation to this famous Ode. Of course, it is the fifth section of this poem which contains Shelley's desire or purpose for writing this poem, as Shelley implores the West Wind to identify so strongly with himself that it will blow his thoughts and ideas all over the universe just as the West Wind blows leaves all over the place so as to initiate a "new birth":
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguishd hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Shelley therefore imagines his words acting as "The trumpet of prophecy" to the world, which he sees as being "unawakened." We can definitely describe him then as optimistic, because he believes his thoughts have the capacity to have this impact on the world, and certainly the fact that this remains such a recognised "classic" in part shows that this optimism was not misplaced. However, at the same time, we could also argue that this poem shows significant escapsim, and perhaps arrogance. Shelley seems to cast himself as a saviour figure upon whom the salvation of the world depends. His goal is nothing more than changing the world, and it is a real flight of fancy to think that one poet's words can impact the entire world and change it.