Compare Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" with Pope's "Ode on Solitude" by examining the chief characteristics of the ode form.

A comparison of Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and
Pope's "Ode on Solitude" reveals some of the chief characteristics of the ode, including
its possibilities for variability. The ode is a form of lyric poetry originated by the
Greeks, especially Pindar, and carried on with variation by the Romans, especially
Horace. Odes, like all lyric poetry, were originally set to music and sung. The
instrumental aspect became less prevalent even in ancient times so that the ode was then
declaimed (i.e., spoken) instead of sung.

By examining
these two odes, it is evident that stanzas may be of varying
verse (i.e., line) length; Pope's has four verses to a
stanza while Shelley's has fourteen verses with an ending couplet, which incidentally is
similar to the sonnet form, which has fourteen verses and an ending couplet. Despite
this variability in verses, both odes have the same number of
stanzas: each has five
stanzas.

Close textual examination reveals that in both
odes stanzas one and two form one thought subject while
stanzas three and four provide a
turn and begin a different subject within the same topic.
Stanza five, then provides another turn and completes the
ode with a resolving subject. Shelley's first two stanzas address the "West Wind"
directly while three and four reflect on the poetic speaker's experience ("Thou who
didst waken"). The end stanza presents the speaker's supplication to the "West Wind":
"Make me thy lyre ... ." Pope's first two stanzas define who is being praised in the
ode, "How happy he who ...," while three and four reflect the blessing of such a one,
"Blest!". The end stanza presents the poetic speaker's supplication to an unnamed
listener: "Thus let me live ... ."

Examination also shows
that both are in iambic rhythm ( ^ / ) but Shelley's is
written in a consistent meter of pentameter while Pope's is
tetrameter with a stanza ending dimeter verse. Pentameter, tetrameter and
diameter are three of several possible meters and all measure number of
repetitions of the rhythm (e.g., iambic): pentameter, five
repetitions ( ^ / ^ / ^ / ^ /  ^ / ); tetrameter, four;
and  dimeter, two repetitions. The rhyme
schemes (i.e., patterns of rhyming) also vary from each other. Shelley's
rhyme scheme is a b a b c b c d c d e d e e, with e e being the stanza ending couplet.
In contrast, Pope's rhyme scheme is a b a b  c d c d  e f e f  g h g h, with no ending
couplet.

These observations point to the
strophe, antistrophe, epode structure
of odes defined by a turn in topic between the first pair
of stanzas and the second pair of stanzas with the
completion of, the resolution of, the ode in the fifth
stanza. The observations also point to the definitive nature of odes that embraces many
variations on alternating rhyme schemes and quantity of
verses, such as, for example, the Royal Octava a b a b a b c c in an eight verse stanza
or a common ode rhyme scheme of a b a b c d e c d e in a ten verse
stanza.