Please explain the following lines from "Ode to the West Wind."Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its...

These famous lines actually come from the final stanza of
this tremendous poem, and represent the final desire and wish of the speaker to be used
by the West Wind, which throughout the poem is seen as being a powerful symbol of change
and revolution. The lines you have quoted begin with an example of apostrophe as the
speaker addresses the West Wind openly, asking and begging to become the wind's
instrument, to have his words used to express the power of change and revolution that is
at the heart of the West Wind's being, as the poet sees it. He wishes to identify so
closely with the essence of the West Wind, as he says "Be thou me, impetuous one!"
Shelley wishes that his "dead thoughts" like the withered leaves and seeds may be driven
through the universe through the power of the West Wind so that they can "quicken a new
birth" and fan the flames of change. Note the paradox inherent in the words of a poet,
which are simultaneously dead and inert, but also alive and inspiring. Shelley wants his
words to inspire inert readers and bring them to life. He thus asks in these lines the
wind to let him be the voice of prophecy and expressive power.