O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter feeling,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence- stricken multitudes: 0 thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her 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, oh, hear!
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
The trumpet of a prophecy! 0, Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
Enchanter : wizard
Multitudes : hordes
Azure : bright blue in colour
Clarion : a clear message
Incantation : special words that are spoken to have a magical effect
