In 1822, his boat the Don Juan was lost in a storm. Ten days after the vessel was salvaged, Shelley's corpse was washed ashore near Viareggio, Italy. He was buried in the sand where he was found, but later exhumed and cremated (Bewley 729). .
Shelley strives to express by image an absolute truth or beauty beyond the scope of imagery. "Of all the great Romantics, Shelley was the least interested in the world as it actually was or as it has been in historic past. Even when he wrote of the present or the past, it was chiefly to disclose what forces had hindered the coming of a better day and forces would hasten its arrival" (Bernbaum 258). .
"Ode to the West Wind" was written in the autumn of 1819 near Florence, Italy (Lancashire 4). Percy Shelley describes the relationship of life and death using three distinct elements of nature- earth, sky, and water. In comparing life and death using to creation and destruction, Shelley gives examples of natural forces, which create and destroy and then relates how he himself is a further example of the cycle. "The first three of the Ode's five stanzas describes the action of the Wind upon three of the essences of ancient natural philosophy: earth, air and water. The fourth essence-destroyer, cleanser, regenerator, ." (Rieger 62). .
The Wind is portrayed in Shelley's poem as the Destroyer and Preserver. Shelley states: "O wild West Wind Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing- Aside from alliteration, it is also noted that West Wind is capitalized as if to personify this aspect of nature. "The Wind is likened to a spirit" (Ridenour 32). Shelley states: "Pestilence- stricken multitudes dark wintry bed corpse within its grave Destroyer and Preserver- In these particular quotes, the Wind is portrayed as the Destroyer. However, Shelley plainly states the Wind as both Destroyer and Preserver in the closing line of the first stanza noted that West Wind .
