Love & Relationships - 4 Main Poems

"Like a satellite / Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away"

Walking away

Enjambment puts the unexpected word wrenched at the start of the line, which emphasises it.
This reflects how the father found the separation sudden and painful.
Being wrenched from an orbit is unnatural.

“With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free”

Walking away

Half-fledged describes a young bird that does not have all of it's adult feathers. A bird that is not fully fledged is unable to fly.
Bird metaphor used to show the father is concerned that his son is not ready.
Pathos meaning experience

"Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,"

Walking away

Natural simile contrasts with satellite is the main stanza one - loosened is less painful and forced then wrenched.
This shows how father is coming to terms with what happened and understands that it is natural.

"How selfhood begins with a walking away, / And love is proved in the letting go"

Walking away

The change to a more steady rhythm underlines how the father has come to a philosophical understanding - the son has to walk away from his father to find his own identity, and the father proves his love for his son by letting him go.

“They are waiting for me somewhere beyond eden rock”

Eden Rock

Opening line of the poem, creating idea of parents waiting for him on the other side, aka death

“The sky whitens as if lit by three suns”

Eden Rock
Could represent the 3 family members, the parents and child. Creates sense of purity or the holy trinity.

“My father spins / A stone along the water. Leisurely”

Eden Rock
"Leisurely" doesn't imply a time pressure on Causley to enter the afterlife, parents attempting to convince him to join them in the afterlife. Also slows down the rhythm of the poem

“They beckon to me from the other bank”

Eden Rock
Third person plural pronouns distance the speaker from his parents. "Beckon" relates to temptation and persuasion, referencing reuniting the family and is a positive embrace.

"My thoughts do twine and bud"

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee
The poem consists of an extended metaphor, he is a tree and her thoughts about him are a vine

"About thee, as wild vines, about a tree"

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee
Her growing thoughts are beginning to feed off of him and become detrimental. "Tree" and "Thee" set up an internal rhyme, making the relationship appear more harmonious

"I will not have my thoughts instead of thee"

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee
"thoughts" & "thee" use alliterative sibilance to create a negative tone towards the beginning of the poem

"I do not think of thee - I am too near thee"

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee
She eventually breaks free of her obsessive thoughts and they are able to love each other

“winds of Heaven“ “law divine”

Love’s Philosophy
Links back to the title in which Shelley compares his lack of love with a philosophical argument, and is reducing the concept of love to be a straightforward step-by-step plea.

“Why not I with thine?”

Love’s Philosophy
This is the first time the personal pronoun "I" is referenced, suggesting the speaker is relying on the impact of natural imagery to convince the woman she should be with him

“mountains kiss high heaven”

Love’s Philosophy
Pathetic Fallacy and Assonance indicate how natural and simple it would be for them to be together

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

Love’s Philosophy
'sunlight' and 'moonbeams' form an antithesis, showing he is passionate both night and day