Love's Philosophy- Percy Bysshe Shelley

What relationship is being presented?

The poem is an romantic plea to persuade a young lady to succumb to physical desire and kiss the man

It is told from the viewpoint of the male and addresses the lady directly and has a light & joyously passionate tone

"The fountains mingle with the river"

Nature is personified, creating a sharp parallel between the purity of the natural world and the purity of their love. Likewise, her restraint and rejection is seen as unnatural and unforgivable

The poem uses a strong semantic field of nature. This is the central conceit of the poem - the argument that in the same way natural elements mix, humans are designed to behave in a similar way

"Why not I with thine?"

The use of rhetorical questions at the end of both stanzas is used to directly address his lover (as means to convince the woman), in order to emphasise his self pity and pining for her

Here, the reader learns the speaker is experiencing unrequited love, and the ​monosyllabic​ nature of this line adds to its impact, making the stanza more persuasive

"Nothing in the world is single; all things by a law divine"

It is God's Law that everything in nature mingles together, religious language suggest love isn't just natural, it's divine and sacred

Powerful religious imagery reinforces the sense that her submission to him is morally right and virtuous. Shelley's position as an Atheist enables us to interpret this as something slightly more manipulative and unscrupulous

It seems ironic and that, as a passionate lover, he would be prepared to say anything in his quest for a kiss

"The mountains kiss high Heaven and the waves clasp one another"

Natural aspects are personified to persuade his lover, and the metaphorical bond between nature represents his idea of unrequited love

Repetition of "kiss" suggests the speaker wishes he had an intimate and physical relationship with the woman he is addressing (stresses the importance of physical togetherness)

"Clasp" has highly sensual connotations and the sibilance​ denotes a loving, intimate connection, as well as the continuing semantic field of embrace

Rhyme scheme

The alternate (ABAB) rhyme scheme further highlights that everything comes in pairs, apart from him and the regular rhyme represents his unwavering feelings

Structure

There are only two stanzas, illustrating the idea of couples expressed in the poem

The consistency in form (regular rhyming couples and rhyming pattern, regular structure) may suggest the intensity and unchanging nature of his desire for the addressee as well as a highly reflective and considered line of thought.

The two stanzas follow a similar pattern which begins with multiple examples to persuade, finishing with a rhetorical question. The rhyme scheme mixes masculine rhyme (single final syllable rhyme) with feminine rhyme (two syllable rhyme), further enhancing his 'philosophy' that masculine and feminine should mix and mingle

Punctuation

Shelley's use of punctuation throughout the poem is also significant- each stanza represents a single long sentence punctuated with colons and semi-colons

This structure shows in an almost child-like way, Shelley's persistence in the quest for his love.

Context

Nature is also a typical Romantic motif (as part of the romanticism movement, typically associated with youthful passion), Shelley focuses the lady's attention on the most beautiful natural elements to appeal to her

Thus the poem is written in simple language, typical of the Romantic poets. This simplicity echoes the simplicity and purity Shelley is alluding to with his passionate intentions & desire