n by it's effects and we see those in the first stanza as "the leaves dead / Are driven to their wintry bed"(ll. 2,3,6). The wind's role is to spread the dead leaves and this enables the seeds to spread and begin life anew. In this double role of "Destroyer and preserver"(l.14) the force and effect of the wind is experienced. As a creative force the wind inspires Shelley to write this Ode and the breath of the Autumn wind is also the breath that gives voice to words in the poem. The wind is the perfect element for Shelley to examine as it inspires life in nature and also expression through speech. There is a consistent simile used throughout this poem and it is that of the leaves that are being controlled by the wind. In the first stanza it is the leaves of the trees that 'are driven' by the wind. This is followed by the same simile in the second and third stanzas when the effect of the wind is seen in the clouds, as they are shed "like Earth's decaying leaves" (l.16). This spirit then infiltrated the depths of the ocean and the underwater forest is despoiled. The "oozy woods"(l.39) cannot escape the touch of the West Wind and they also undergo a metamorphosis of change as the seaweed is thrown up on the shore. Shelley compares the clouds and the leaves in the process of shedding and the important point here is that the wind is the central catalyst for change in the different elements. Tying in with the theme that the wind's unseen presence is witnessed in the sea, air and land. Shelley identifies himself with the land, the sky and the sea to be swept up by the wind's power. A Wordsworthian recollection of his youth follows as he seems to regret his lost childhood and with that the opportunity to be one with the wind. This leads us to his idea of inspiration and how it, ultimately, fails Shelley. The wind is Shelley's inspiration in writing the Ode but the conflict between inspiration and composition results in loss. By trying to capt...
