Western Wind

While the speaker of the poem longs for their loved one and the security of their own bed, there is another source of solace the speaker calls out to in the poem. Before expressing their desire to be with their beloved, the speaker exclaims, “Christ!” (Line 3). According to author R.T. Smith writing in Shenandoah, “The holy intermediary is invoked, and though it is possible to read the ‘Christ!’ as an expletive, as late as the sixteenth century this outburst was being set to music and employed in the mass, not seen as blasphemous at all.” Smith goes on to describe how before this invocation, the poem is “elemental” and “secular,” while after it is “sexual” and “domestic” (Smith, R.T. “O Western Wind (Anonymous).” Shenandoah). This invocation serves as a turning point in the poem. Unable to cope with the unpredictability of nature, the speaker turns to cry out to the Christian religious figure before desiring their blissful domestic setting. The speaker seeks some sort of aid or guidance. They require assistance to attain that domestic bliss that they so much desire, and the Christian faith may be able to provide them with that.