Explain P. B. Shelley's Statement That "Poets Are the Unacknowledged Legislators of the World", with Reference to His Poetry.

The above statement that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world" has been taken from his essay 'A Defence of Poetry' in which he discusses the role of the poet in society and asserts that he is the moderator of the society. In the essay he mentions that the ancient poets were "magi" or wise men whose poetry was magical. According to him poets are "the instituitions of laws, and the founders of civil society, and the inventors of the arts of life." This statement is well appropriated through Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind' (1819). Through this poem Shelley recognizes the potential of 'Ausonius', the West Wind, to bring transformation in the society. He refers to the wind as the 'Destroyer' of all the negativity in the world and the 'Preserver' of all good and positive. He asks the West Wind to give him that power so that he can bring change in the society through his faculty of imagination and poetry. His radical tone makes clear his political message of the need for social change. He is like a visionary who foresees a better future through destruction of the bad. In the first stanza Shelley addresses the West Wind and says that all the old and worn out issues should be carried away by the wind like 'dead leaves' and all the new things should be cultivated. Shelley sees himself as the medium through whom the power of the West Wind will spread among mankind. Shelley refers to himself as the 'dead leaf, cloud, wave, and the impulse of strength' which are all destroyed and regenerated by the West Wind. Shelley wants this change even at the cost of violence-judicious violence for conservation. Like civilizations begin, flourish and end to sustain progress, similiarly he wants to end the torment of mankind. Shelley says that there are no solutions to stop the decay and corruption of politics and society. Thus violence is the last resort for rebirth of a greater social order. Shelley associates the Destroyer and Preserver image of the West Wind with that of the poet's role. By the middle of the poem Shelley realizes that since he is a human figure the West Wind cannot change him or the society. He feels "tameless and swift and proud" but weighed down by a "heavy weight of hours". According to him the ashes that build up on the dead leaves, after they are burnt, hides the spark beneath and what is then required to light the sparks again is a blow, a breath-which is also language, prophecy, and by extension the pen(of the poet). Therefore breath is the voice of poetry. It is the breath of revolution, of sparking new fire from the dead obsolete things. Hence for shelley, poetry has a prophetic kind of existence. By stanza 5, the wind Is a metaphor for the invisible force that will scatter the poet's words. The final prayer in this stanza is not simply for social regeneration but for a specifically political one to be brought about by his 'words'. Shelley wages the West Wind to make him 'thy lyre'. He says 'be thou me, impetuous one!'. Shelley wants to be the voice that gives birth to the new world. The idea that the West Wind can take human identity through him and the poet having the power of nature are features of generic poetry. He feels responsible towards the society and thus he emphasizes on revolution. As the prayer for the West Wind ends, the poets become 'the trumpet of a prophecy!'. He is like the prophet whose words will be the final judgment. Through communicating his revolutionary views he wants to awaken mankind and bring change. In Jennifer Wagner's words "The poet's own voice is the 'clarion' that will awaken 'the dreaming earth'". Throughout the prayer Shelley's focus is on his social responsibility and the purpose of every poet to propagate the right way of thinking. He is the prophet, the "legislator" of the world, who preaches the idea of revolution. He may be "unacknowledged" but that does not effect his commitment towards this cause. In his essay 'A Defence of Poetry' Shelly states that a poet incorporates qualities of both prophet and legislator as "he beholds the future in the present, and his thoughts are the germs of the flower and the fruit of the latest time."