Western Wind

“Western Wind” falls under the category of an apostrophe, meaning that it is a poem which is addressed to an inanimate object or an absent individual. In this particular case, the poem addresses the “Western wind” (Line 1). In Greek mythology, Zephyros (Zephyrus) is the god of the West wind, conceived as a “gentle” wind which ushers in spring and warmer weather. In Roman mythology, the god of the West wind was known as Favonius.

The speaker questions the West wind in the first line of the poem and asks it “when will thou blow” (Line 1). The speaker focuses their question on “the small rain” (Line 2). They want to know when the West wind will blow the rain. However, it is uncertain whether the speaker wants the rain to be pushed towards them to serve as a harbinger of new life and seasonal change, or wants the rain to be pushed away and its dreariness dissipated. Both readings are viable. “The small rain” (Line 2) makes it sound like the rain is a short, passing thunderstorm as opposed to an extended natural event. Or rather, the rain could be “small,” as in, just a drizzle. The suggestion of a drizzle keeps with the notion of springtime showers that a wind from the West wind would typically usher in. The speaker notes how the rain “down can rain” (Line 2), which is interesting syntax both because of the repetition of “rain” as well as for the placement of the adverb “down” before the verb phrase “can rain” (Line 2). However, neither the repetition nor the adverb placement provide any further clarification regarding whether the speaker desires the rain to come or go. In one sense, the line is descriptive, detailing what happens exactly when the rain clouds roll in. On the other hand, the line could read as hopeful, the speaker waiting in earnest for the rain to fall as it is something that the rain “can” do.

The third line opens with the speaker calling upon the Lord, Jesus Christ. The speaker exclaims, “Christ!” (Line 3). The reader should not take this exclamation to be an expletive because expletives of this sort were not yet common at the time the poem was composed; rather, the exclamation is a direct call upon the Lord for attention. At this point in the poem, the speaker shifts from discussing the weather to considering their beloved. The speaker desires that their “love were in my arms” (Line 3). The subjunctive “were” signals that this wish is indeed a hypothetical situation and not yet a reality. Not only does the speaker desire to be reunited with their loved one, but they also wish to return home to be “in my bed again” (Line 4). The speaker shifts away from a tone of uncertainty and ambiguity in the first two lines to a desire for familiarity and comfort in the last two lines.