Percy Bysshe Shelley · Ode to the West Wind

“O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being”

Nature & seasons
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s beingThou from whose unseen presence the leaves deadAre driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,Pestilence-stricken multitudes! O thouWho chariotest to their dark wintry bedThe wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,Each like a corpse within its grave, untilThine azure sister of the Spring shall blowHer clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air)With living hues and odours plain and hill;Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;Destroyer and preserver; hear, O hear!
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Author
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Work
Ode to the West Wind
Found in
The Oxford Book of English Verse
Year
1820
Length
106 words
Source
Project Gutenberg eBook #66619

Public domain. This passage is in the public domain. Percy Bysshe Shelley died in 1822, more than 70 years ago, and the work was first published in 1820. You can copy, print, read aloud or sell it without asking permission; a credit is kind but not required. The text is copied word for word from the Project Gutenberg edition linked here.

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