Themes
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Love & Relationships, topic 2.1.2
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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".
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.
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.
Test yourself on Themes
Which of these does Shelley personify as lovers?
What is the purpose of the pathetic fallacy in Love's Philosophy?
Which of these quotes suggests it would be a sin for his lover not to kiss him?
Expansion of Size in Love's Philosophy
Why does Shelley create a vast sense of scale (from a fountain to the Heavens) in Love's Philosophy?