Love's Philosophy: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Love's Philosophy: Percy Bysshe Shelley

1. 'The fountains mingle with the river' - The writer uses personification to show comparisons between what happens in nature and his own desire to be with his lover.

2. 'All things by a law divine' - the narrator thinks that it's God's law that everything is nature mingles together.

3. 'Why not I with thine?' - In both stanzas, the first 6 or 7 lines are confident assertions, which contrast with the rhetorical questions in the final lines.

4. 'In one another's being mingle-' - the repetition of 'mingle' emphasises how everything in nature is united. Also, the dash creates a pause to emphasise the question at the end of the stanza.

5. 'the mountains kiss high heaven and the waves clasp one another' - Use of physical language hints at his frustration that he cant do these things to his lover.

6. 'No sister-flower would be forgiven' - the narrator claims that his loved ones lack of love towards him goes against God's law and is therefore unforgivable.

7. 'What is all this sweet work worth' - The narrator questions the point of the world if his lover doesn't love him. This suggests that love gives life meaning. This question could also be a hyperbole as he might be purposely exaggerating to try to persuade her.

8. 'If thou kiss not me?' - The final line in each stanza only has 5 syllables and is monosyllabic which increases the impact of the question and makes them stand out. They're separated from the rest of the poem, just as the narrator is separated from his lover.

9. Form - The poem has a regular ABAB rhyme scheme, but two lines in each stanza don't fully rhyme - this reflects the way that all of nature is in harmony except for the narrator and his lover.

10. Language to do with God suggests that love is not just natural, but it is also Godly.

11. Repeated words such as 'mingle', 'clasp', and 'kiss' emphasises that physical relationship he wants.