The word "azure," coupled with the word "Spring," helps show Shelley's view of rejuvenation. The word "Spring" besides being a literary metaphor for rebirth also means to rise up. In line 9, Shelley uses soft sounding phrases to communicate the blowing of the wind. This tercet acts as an introduction and a foreshadow of what is to come later. Shelley goes on to talk of the wind as a "Destroyer and Preserver" which brings to mind religious overtones of different cultures such as Hinduism and Native Indian beliefs. The poem now sees a shift of the clouds which warns of an upcoming storm. This helps Shelley begin to work towards a final climax. He then writes of the mourning song "Of the dying year, to which this closing night/ Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre/ Vaulted with all they congregated might" (23-25). Again, the reader feels somewhat claustrophobic. The "closing night" feels as if it is surrounding the author as he writes and the reader as he or she reads. The "closing night" is used also to mean the final night. Shelley shows how he cannot have a transcendence even in an open sky for even the sky is a "dome." The "sepulchre" is a tomb made out of rock and his imagination and the natural world will be locked and "Vaulted" tight. But in following lines Shelley writes how this "sepulchre" will "burst" (28). In that sense, "Vaulted" takes on the meaning of a great leap and even a spring. Shelley uses the phrase "congregated might" not just to mean a collaborative effort, but to represent all types of religion. Shelley seems to use obtuse phrasing to frighten the reader and to show the long breath of the wind. Shelley wants the reader to visualize the "dome" as having a presence like a volcano. And when the "dome" does "burst," it will act as a "Destroyer and Preserver" and creator. The use of the words "Black rain and fire and hail..." (28) also helps the reader prepare for the apocalyptic climax which Shelle...
