Western Wind

Since the exact date of the anonymous author’s creation of “Western Wind” is unknown, with possible time frames ranging from the 1300s through the 1600s, placing the poem within an exact contextual framework is challenging. However, looking at the religious context of the poem provides some consistency across all of these periods of composition. Christianity has influenced English history since St. Augustine arrived on English soil in the second century and began converting the Anglo-Saxons. By the Middle Ages, when the lyrics of “Western Wind” possibly originated, England was a Roman Catholic nation. Catholicism served as the main religion until Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 following Pope Clement VII’s refusal to annul King Henry VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon’s marriage. The Protestant Church of England resulted from this separation. While a Catholic monarch did once again stand on the English throne with Queen Mary in 1553, Queen Elizabeth I once more restored the Church of England as the primary faith when she gained the throne in 1558 (“Church of England.” Britannica). Therefore, whether “Western Wind” was composed under the influence of Catholicism or the influence of the Church of England, a definite, Christian influence exerted itself through the poem’s composer.