Would you regard Shelley as a poet of hope and aspiration? Answer with reference to "Ode to the West Wind" and "To a Skylark."

Both of these poems, like many of Shelley's poems, start
off by describing a natural event and then use this event as a way to discuss the way
that nature can powerfully impact and transform the lives of men. Throughout both poems,
Shelley hopes and dreams of what his poetry could do, if he were able to harness the
power of the West Wind and then the beauty of the skylark's song. Note the following
examples, that directly relate to hope and
aspiration:

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Teach me half the
gladness

That thy brain must
know,

Such harmonious
madness

From my lips would
flow

The world should listen then--as I am listening
now.

Here, Shelley expresses
his desire to learn from the skylark and its beauty, so that his poetry can somehow be
able to capture and share the beauty of the skylark's song and make man stop and listen
to the beauty and transforming power of nature.

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Drive my dead thoughts over the
universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new
birth!

And, by the incantation of this
verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished
hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among
mankind!

Here again we see
Shelley aspiring to capture or harness the power of nature to spread his words and his
poetry throughout all of mankind. In a powerful image, he imagines his words like dead
leaves being scattered throughout the planet so that they might "quicken a new
birth."

In these two poems therefore we can clearly see the
way in which Shelley aspires to use the example of nature in his work, and the hope that
by so doing, he can improve both mankind and the world.