Love's Philosophy Flashcards
Who wrote the poem?
Percy Bysshe Shelly
What is the poem about?
The poet is attempting to convince a love interest to be with him romantically by giving examples of how everything in nature is connected and how he believes it is God’s law.
What was Shelly alive?
1792-1822
When was the poem written?
1820
Describe the form of the poem.
The poem is short and simple, which suggests that the poet believes what he is saying to be simple truths. The ABAB rhyme scheme has 2 lines per stanza that don’t rhyme properly, reflecting how nature pairs up properly and his love interest is fighting it.
Describe the structure of the poem.
The tight structure is to be persuasive, using most of each stanza to build evidence supporting his argument. He uses short lines at the end of the stanzas to use rhetorical questions which emphasises the contrast between nature and the narrator.
Describe the use of nature language in the poem.
Shelley uses the personification of nature to demonstrate nature’s love, and emphasise how natural his love for the woman is.
Describe the use of repetition in the poem.
Repetition is used to reiterate and emphasise how nature connects with everything else.
Why is water imagrey used?
The water imagery compares the poets long for love to nature. The increasing scale from “fountain” and “river” to “ocean” demonstrates love’s power and to reflect the physical nature of his desired relationship.
Why does the narrator use mingle (Line 1)?
The narrator uses personification to draw parallels between what happens in nature and his own desire to be with his love interest.
What is the significance of
“river” (Line 1) and “ever” (Line 3)
as well as “heaven” (Line 9) and
“forgiven” (Line 11)?
They are both sets of half-rhymes, which disrupts the regular ABAB and demonstrates how the couple aren’t together.
What is the effect of sweet emotion (Line 4)?
The personification here implies that nature enjoys and benefits from the connectedness of everything.
What is the significance of Nothing in this world is single (Line 5)?
The line sums up the narrator’s argument, reinforcing the poem’s persuasive structure. The short clause makes it feel as though the point must be true and is inarguable. It shows how desperately he wants to be with her as he feels the whole world is against him.
Why does the narrator use law divine (Line 6)?
It shows how he believes that it is God’s will that everything in nature mingles together.
Whay is the effect of mingle (Line 7)?
The repetition of “mingle” emphasises how everything in nature is united.
