2.1.2

Themes

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Desire for Physicality

Like many romantic poets, Shelley uses personification and pathetic fallacy. In this poem, Shelley uses the two devices to stress the narrator's desire for a physical relationship. Shelley also highlights this using repetition.

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Personification

  • The narrator personifies the "sunlight", "moonbeams", "earth" and the "sea" as lovers as he tries to present physical union with his lover as the next logical and natural step.
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Pathetic fallacy

  • The whole poem becomes an extended exploration of pathetic fallacy, as he attempts to convince his lover that a physical relationship is just part of the natural course of life.
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Repetition

  • Repetition of words such as "mingle", "kiss" and "clasp" highlight the poets desire for a physical relationship with his lover and the overwhelming sense of the unity that the narrator feels he lacks in his real-life relationship.

Religious Imagery

The narrator uses religious imagery to try and elevate (raise) his earthly love and to present his intentions as pure. He also draws on the idea of sin to aid his persuasion.

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"Winds of Heaven" and "law divine"

  • We see love as the "sweet emotion" that mixes in the "winds of Heaven".
  • According to "law divine", nothing is "single".
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Sin

  • There are even hints of sin - the narrator seems to imply that to deny him would be a sin against the natural order of things.
  • "No sister-flower would be forgiven / If it disdain’d its brother".
  • He also tries to argue that his lover is wasting all of God’s wonders by not kissing him in his final stab at persuasion.

Scale and Love's Influence

Shelley creates a vast sense of scale as he tries to express the sheer magnitude (size) of what he claims is love's influence over the universe.

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Imagery

  • Shelley creates a vast sense of scale in the poem by creating an expansion of size from the fountain going into the river, the river to the ocean, then expanding out into the Heavens.
  • Through this list, he creates a sense of growth as the poetic voice is trying to express the sheer scale of what he claims is love’s influence over the universe.

Jump to other topics

1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)

2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis

5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)

7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)

10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963

12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)

13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)

15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

16Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons

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