Love’s Philosophy, Percy Shelle

• Context


  Romantic poet, died early - associated with youthful passion
• ‘Why not I with thine?’/’If thou kiss not me’


  rhetorical questions at the end of philosophical argument build up, dramatic persuasion emphasises longing - demanding ending - no solution
• ‘Mountains’ ‘moonbeams’ kiss


  semantic field of physical imagery, personifies nature
• ‘Waves clasp one another’

  love is natural, sibilance, natural imagery
• ‘Fountains mingle with the river’


  personification, emphasises nature’s beauty
• Winds of heaven’ ‘law divine’

  religious allusions, Charles Darwin theories led to questioning of nature + religion at the time
• 2 stanzas, 2 lines in each do not rhyme


  everything is connected paired, nature in sync except for two
• Themes and comparison


  ●SONNET 29: longing as a result of denied physical love (first person, frustration), desire for physical unity (structure short concise, intense emotions and nature), unresolved vs solution (early volta, endings + direct address vs vagueness of lover)

  ● THE FARMERS BRIDE: frustration and unrealised desire power imbalances (lack of intimacy vs distance), natural imagery (love is natural), repetition shows persistence, use of nature to show harmony and beauty vs oppression and distance