In 'Ode to the West Wind,' Percy Bysshe Shelley tries to gain transcendence, for he shows that his thoughts, like the 'winged seeds' (7) are trapped. The West Wind acts as a driving force for change and rejuvenation in the human and natural world. Shelley views winter not just as last phase of vegetation but as the last phase of life in the individual, the imagination, civilization and religion. Being set in Autumn, Shelley observes …showed first 75 words of 1458 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1458 total…to live on in eternity and create inspiration and change in others like the West Wind, then he has achieved something greater than he could have imagined. But whether he grasped a complete transcendence for himself while he was alive remains to be answered. It seems that it is only in his death that the 'Wild Spirit' (13) could be lifted 'as a wave, a leaf, a cloud' to blow free in the 'Wild West Wind' (1).