Poetry · Chapter
Conservatism and Progress explained
A poetic allegory in which Old Zephyr, representing conservatism, tries to hold the sea and ships in stasis, only to be challenged by the tempest of progress from the North, which breaks the calm and forces movement and change.
What happens
A poetic allegory in which Old Zephyr, representing conservatism, tries to hold the sea and ships in stasis, only to be challenged by the tempest of progress from the North, which breaks the calm and forces movement and change.
Key passages
“Old Zephyr, dawdling in the West, Looked down upon the sea, Which slept unfretted at his feet, And balanced on its breast a fleet That seemed almost to be Suspended in the middle air, As if a magnet held it there, Eternally at rest.”
The lazy west wind observed a perfectly still sea with ships that appeared frozen in place, as if held by an invisible force.
Introduces the theme of stagnation and the conservative desire for eternal rest.
“But lo! from out the troubled North A tempest strode impatient forth, And trampled white the deep; The sloping ships flew glad away, Laving their heated sides in spray.”
Suddenly, a storm from the North violently stirred the sea, and the ships eagerly sailed away, cooling themselves in the foam.
The tempest symbolizes progress and change, breaking the inertia imposed by conservatism.
“The West then turned him red with wrath, And to the North he shouted: 'Hold there! How dare you cross my path, As now you are about it?' The North replied with laboured breath— His speed no moment slowing:— 'My friend, you’ll never have a path, Unless you take to blowing.'”
The West wind angrily orders the North to stop, but the North, without slowing, replies that the West cannot have a path unless it starts blowing.
Highlights the conflict between conservatism (West) and progress (North), with the North asserting that action is necessary to create one's own way.