Percy Bysshe Shelly - Love's Philosophy

Question 1

What is the poem about?

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

Give a brief synopsis of the poem

Answer 2

• Initially, Shelly declares “facts” about examples of couples in nature and then asks why he is not in a relationship
• In the second stanza, Shelley fixates on examples of physical intimacy in nature and then asks why he doesn’t have the same experience

Question 3

When was Percy Bysshe Shelly alive?

Answer 3

1792-1822

Question 4

When was the poet written?

Answer 4

1820

Question 5

Context regarding Percy Bysshe Shelley:

Answer 5

• Born into a very wealthy family which attained a small noble rank in 1086
• Attended Eton and Oxford
• Expelled from Oxford as he contributed to a pamphlet about Atheism, controversial concept in the 1800s
• Due to Shelley (and Byron) dying early, Romantic poetry is usually associated with intense youthful passion.

Question 6

“The fountains mingle with the river”

Answer 6

• Shelley establishes the theme of nature from the outset which is common for Romantic poetry
• Idea of fountains mingling with rivers evokes passive images implying that is only natural for them to be together
• Personification to draw parallels between what happens in nature and his own desire to be with his love interest

Question 7

“And the rivers with the Ocean,”

Answer 7

• The ocean is a typically feminised motif in poetry - by including this image, the speakers awe at the woman he loves could be inferred

Question 8

“The winds of Heaven mix for ever”

Answer 8

• Along with “river” (Line 1) and “forgiven” (Line 11) they are half rhymes - disrupts the regular ABAB and demonstrates how the couple aren’t together

Question 9

“With a sweet emotion;”

Answer 9

• Connotations of “sweet” imply that the speaker experiences tender affection
• Personification implies that nature benefits from the connectedness of everything

Question 10

“Nothing in the world is single;”

Answer 10

• The line sums up the narrator’s argument, reinforcing the poems persuasive structure. T* he short clause makes it feel as though the point must be true and is inarguable.

Question 11

“All things by a law divine”

Answer 11

• Links back to the title, in which Shelley compares his lack of love with a philosophical argument, and is paradoxically reducing the massive illogical concept of love to a straightforward step-by-step plea
• Shows how he believes that it is God’s will that everything in nature mingles together

Question 12

“In one another’s being mingle -“

Answer 12

• Repetition of “mingle” emphasises how everything in nature is united
• Dash creates a pause which emphasises the rhetorical question at the end of the stanza

Question 13

“Why not I with thine?”

Answer 13

• Here, the reader learns for the first time that the speaker is experiencing unrequited love, and the monosyllabic nature of this line adds to its impact, making the stanza more persuasive
• First time pronoun “I” is referenced, suggests the speaker is relying on the impact of natural imagery to convince the woman he wants to be in a relationship in that she should be with him
• In both stanzas, the first 6 or 7 lines are confident assertions of things the narrator believes to be true, the rhetorical questions at the end of each stanza create a tonal shift which shows that he is confused that his love interest won’t reciprocate his affections.

Question 14

“See the mountains kiss high Heaven,”

Answer 14

• Pathetic fallacy and assonance suggests how natural and simple it would be for them to be together
• Physical language hints his frustration that he cannot “kiss” or “clasp” his love interest

Question 15

“And the waves clasp one another;”

Answer 15

• “Clasp” has highly sensual connotations, soft sibilance in it denote a loving intimate connection, and continuing semantic field of embrace

Question 16

“No sister-flower would be forgiven”
“If it disdain’d its brother”

Answer 16

• The narrator claims that the love interest’s coldness towards him goes against God’s law and is therefore sinful and unforgivable.
• “Disdain’d” confirms the suggestion that the love interest has previously rejected the narrator.
• Innocent images (brother, sister-flower) so may imply the young nature of the relationship, or perhaps suggests the relationship is natural and should not be forced - destined to be together

Question 17

“And the sunlight clasps the earth,”
“And the moonbeams kiss the sea -“

Answer 17

• “Sunlight” and “moonbeams” form antithesis, shows the overwhelming nature of the speaker’s desire, he is passionate both night and day, also shows that everything is connected, even the Sun and Moon - not just nature on earth
• Repeated use of “And” highlights how many examples he can think of to demonstrate nature’s unity to the love interest

Question 18

“What is all this sweet work worth”

Answer 18

• The narrator questions the point of the world if his love interest won’t reciprocate his feelings for her, implying that love gives life meaning - can be seen as hyperbolic, and the over dramatised reaction may only be to persuade her.
• “Sweet work worth” is difficult to say, implying that the speaker is beginning to feel despondent about the lack of reciprocity of his love

Question 19

“If thou kiss not me?”

Answer 19

• The final line of each stanza is monosyllabic, with only five syllables, which increases the rhetorical questions’ impact, just as they’re separated from the rest of the poem, the narrator is separated from his love interest.
• The use of anastrophe in the final line of the poem rearranges the word order so that “me” is the final line of the poem, this forces the love interest to acknowledge and focus on him and his feelings at the end of the poem.
• Poem culminates with a question so the listener is provided no catharsis.
• Shelley’s use of questions is also indicative of the persuasive style of the poem
• Monosyllables are also used here to reinforce the speaker’s argument; “kiss” is repeated throughout the poem to emphasise the speaker’s desire

Question 20

Describe the perspective the poem uses

Answer 20

• Written in first person as Shelley is able to speak from experience
• Narrative perspective also adds to intimacy of the sentiment expressed by the speaker

Question 21

Describe the structure of the poem regarding philosophical argument

Answer 21

• In each stanza, Shelley builds up evidence as if he is constructing a philosophical argument and ends with a rhetorical question.
• In the first stanza he shifts from the declarative “The fountains mingle with the river” to the rhetorical “Why not I with thine?”. * The question is in contrast with the rest of the poem and acts to highlight the difference between what Shelley has just described and his actual situation.

Question 22

Describe the structure of the poem regarding the line lengths

Answer 22

• 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.

Question 23

Describe the structure of the poem regarding repetition

Answer 23

• Repetition is used to reiterate and emphasise how nature connects with everything else.
• Shelley repeatedly uses the anaphora of “And the” (rivers, waves, sunlight, moonbeams) - could be used to constantly imply the importance of nature in a romantic and sexual relationship.
• Throughout the poem, Shelley employs lexis from the semantic field of embrace.
  e.g. “mingle”, “mix”, “kiss”, “clasp” are repeated throughout different stanzas which emphasises the fact that the speaker wishes he had an intensely intimate and physical relationship with the woman he is addressing in the poem and stresses the importance of physical togetherness.

Question 24

Describe the form and meter of the poem regarding its length

Answer 24

• The poet is short and simple, which suggests that the poet believes what he is saying to be simple truths.

Question 25

Describe the form and meter of the poem regarding trochaic meter

Answer 25

• It is structured in a trochaic metre.
• This is where there are four beats in the first three lines and three beats in the fourth, with this repeated throughout the rest of the stanzas.
• This is connected to the usual ballad metre employed by lots of the romantic poets where each beat is comprised of a stressed then an unstressed syllable.

Question 26

Describe the form and meter of the poem regarding couples + rhyme scheme

Answer 26

• 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..
• There are only two stanzas which represents the ideas of couples expressed in the poem.
• Rhyming couplets are also used to the same effect, and the rhyming pattern is ABABCDCD in each stanza.
• This consistency in form may suggest the intensity and unchanging nature of his desire for the person the poem is directed at.

Question 27

Describe the use of language about natural imagery

Answer 27

• Shelley uses the personification of nature to demonstrate nature’s love, and emphasise how natural his love for the woman is.
• Shelley compares his life to things he observes in the natural world.
• He personifies the windin the metaphor “The winds of Heaven mix for ever // With a sweet emotion”. This showshow Shelley feels loving emotions so intensely that he begins to see them everywhere.
• The expression of intense emotion in the context of nature is characteristic of Romantic poetry, and Shelley’s work.
• Further personification of nature is present in “No sister-flower would be forgiven // If it disdain’d its brother”.
• This metaphor adds depth to the speaker’s character by suggesting that his intentions are not sexual but romantic.
• Shelley blurs the boundaries between humanity and nature throughout the poem to imply that their relationship is inevitable as a law of nature.

Question 28

Describe the use of language about water imagery

Answer 28

• 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.

Question 29

Describe the use of language about physical intimacy

Answer 29

• Whilst the first stanza is detached and questioning a “law divine”, the second stanza is more emotionally intense.
• Shelley emphasises his use of natural imagery in relation to physical intimacy with the sibilance in “mountains kiss high heaven” and “waves clasp one another”.
• This shows how the speaker has moved from thinking about the idea of being in arelationship to fixating on being physically close with their lover.

Question 30

Describe the use of language about philosophy

Answer 30

• Shelley’s choice to entitle the poem “Love’s philosophy” is indicative of the poem’s content.
• He includes lexis from the semantic field of philosophy to show how he is seriously questioning the nature of love.
• Each stanza begins with a ‘fact’ in the declaratives “The fountains mingle with the river”and “See the mountains kiss high heaven”.
• The stanzas then end with the rhetorical questions “Why not I with thine?” and “If thou kiss not me?”.
• This contrast in line form highlights the philosophical content of the poem.
• This theme is perpetuated by Shelley’s use of religious allusion in “winds of Heaven”, “law divine” and “kiss high Heaven”.
• These references to religion give Shelley’s argument gravitas and allude to the questioning of the nature of religion at the time caused by the theories of Charles Darwin.

Question 31

How are feelings/attitudes of longing displayed in the poem?

Answer 31

• The narrator longs for love
  He is frustrated that his love isn’t retuned when he sees all the bonds that exist in nature

Question 32

How are feelings/attitudes of playfulness displayed in the poem?

Answer 32

• The poem can also be read in a playful way - the narrator oversimplifies the idea that because tings in nature come together, he and the woman he wants should also come together

Question 33

Compare with:

Answer 33

• When We Two Parted
• Sonnet 29 - “I think of thee!”
• The Farmer’s Bride

Question 34

Compare with: When We Two Parted

Answer 34

SIMILARITIES
* Both speakers are unsuccessful in romance * Written by Romantic poets
* Intense emotions are expressed in both poems
DIFFERENCES
* In “When we two parted” the speaker is looking backwards on a relationship whereas in “Love’s philosophy’’ the speaker is looking forwards to a prospective relationship
* The language in “when we two parted” is centred on the two characters whilst “love’s philosophy” is predominantly metaphorical

Question 35

Compare with: Sonnet 29

Answer 35

SIMILARITIES
* Shelley and Barrett Browning both use natural imagery as a metaphor for romantic love. Shelley states that “The winds of heaven mix for ever” and that “the waves clasp one another”. Barrett Browning similarly attributes physical intimacy to nature in her comparison of her thoughts to “wild vines, about a tree” and “bands of greenery”.
* Both poems are short and concise, showing the speaker’s emotions to be highly intense. The two stanzas used in both could represent two people as a couple.
DIFFERENCES
* In sonnet 29, it appears that she realises the error of her ways however, in Love’s philosophy the p

Question 36

Compare with: The Farmer’s Bride

Answer 36

SIMILARITIES
* Both speakers express frustration at their desire remaining unrealised. Shelley creates this impression through his use of sibilance in “single”, “kiss”, “clasp”, “sea” and “disdained”. Mew’s speaker is shown to be similarly dejected in “Tis but a stair // Betwixt us” and “What’s Christmas time without there be // Some other in the house than we!”. DIFFERENCES
* In “the farmer’s bride”, nature becomes a symbol for the girl’s oppression through the use of violent fricatives in “frightened fay” and the prey-like connotations of “flying like a hare” and “shy as a leveret”. Opposingly, Shelley references nature to create beautiful images in the listeners mind through the personification in “fountaiNS MI

Question 37

Compare with: The Farmer’s Bride

Answer 37

SIMILARITIES
* Both speakers express frustration at their desire remaining unrealised. Shelley creates this impression through his use of sibilance in “single”, “kiss”, “clasp”, “sea” and “disdained”. Mew’s speaker is shown to be similarly dejected in “Tis but a stair // Betwixt us” and “What’s Christmas time without there be // Some other in the house than we!”. DIFFERENCES
* In “the farmer’s bride”, nature becomes a symbol for the girl’s oppression through the use of violent fricatives in “frightened fay” and the prey-like connotations of “flying like a hare” and “shy as a leveret”. Opposingly, Shelley references nature to create beautiful images in the listeners mind through the personification in “fountains mingle with the river” and “the sunlight clasps the earth”