Untitled Flashcards Set

Percy Bysshe Shelly’s ‘Love’s Philosophy’ and Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poem ‘Sonnet 29- I Think Of Thee!’ are both poem’s about longing that present ideas like desire through the imagery of nature. The love and slight obsession in both poems are shown to be flooding the speaker’s mind.

The main similarity between these two poems is their key focus on the longing for a lover, however in slightly differing ways. Both poets powerfully use their language and imagery to convey the idea of the speakers love towards another however they differ through whether the love is requited or not.

LOVES PHILOSPHY LANGUAGE:

‘And the moonbeams kiss the sea’- moon is symbol of eternity, sunligh symbolises hope, darkness without her. Moon controls sea, wants control in relationship.

-Waves clasp one another’- Personifying nature, using verbs usually associated with intimacy, reflects his own desire for such actions

-’All things by a law divine’ Manipulating and persuading her to love him. Saying it’s God’s will for them to be together.

-  Nature theme throughout it might be the speaker trying to say his love is natural and should be accepted by the woman he wishes to love him.

Light flirtatious tone throughout.

SONNET 29 LANGUAGE:

- ‘I think of thee! My thoughts do twine and bud’ -Uncontrolled feelings, Blooming love for him

- ‘Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should’ - Wants him to return, could be sexual. Uses tree, refers to nature like Shelly’s poem.

- Extended metaphor of him being the tree, her thoughts the foliage around it.

-’Drop heavily down, - burst, shattered, everywhere!’ - Can’t contain her longing and love, Overwhelmed. Thoughts built up, been away for a while.

- Early stages of relationship while in Shelley’s there isn’t a relationship yet, in Browning’s her lover returns and her thoughts are replaced with him. Shelley’s poem, the speaker doesn’t end up with the woman.

-Browning wrote this about her husband who lived in Italy.

Both poet’s display their uncontrolled passion and wanting for their lover through the symbolism of nature. However, Shelly’s seems more controlled and more persuasive while Browning’s focuses more on her obsession and unrestrained desire for her husband.

LOVES PHILOSOPHY STRUCTURE:

-Overall trochaic rhythm, giving an uplifted, assured and joyous feel.

- Masculine and feminine rhymes throughout apart from last 4 rhymes, emphasizing he is alone.

-Frequent enjambment accentuates force of his love that drives all things in existence to mix ‘The fountains mingle with the river/ And the rivers with the ocean’

-’And’ start of lines, relentless force of love that connects everything

- Sibilance highlights the unity of everything, compelling everything to unite.

SONNET 29 STRUCTURE:

-Sonnet, 14 lines, iambic pentameter, regular Petracha structure apart from an early volta, symbolising her desperation for her lover to return. Braking traditions, like their relationship which isnt traditional.

-Sometimes reverses iamb meter to trochee .eg ‘rustle’, conveys urgency of her feelings.

-Also uses enjambment like Shelly to show her uncontrolable desire.

In both poems the structure and use of form reflects their type of love and their feelings towards their lovers, throughout Shelly’s poem he highlights the unity and connection in nature while in Browning’s her use of form shows her burning passion for her husband and unrestricted feelings.

CONCLUSION: Both have ideas on longing and desire and that without a lover, they are all they can think about. The difference being that Browning ends her poem with the reuniting of her and her lover, her desires becoming reality while Shelly’s poem is more sombre, ending on a rhetorical question on why his unrequited lover does not kiss him. Browning represents the bliss and sublimity of reuniting while Shelly expresses his lonely nature.