"Love's Philosophy" is a

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

by Percy Bysshe Shelley published in 1819.

Background

The poem was published by

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...

in the December 22, 1819 issue of ''The Indicator'' and reprinted in ''Posthumous Poems'' in 1824 edited by

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

. It was included in the Harvard manuscript book where it is headed "An Anacreontic", dated "January, 1820".

Anacreontics Anacreontics are verses in a metre used by the Greek poet Anacreon in his poems dealing with love and wine. His later Greek imitators (whose surviving poems are known as the ''Anacreontea'') took up the same themes and used the Anacreontic meter. ...

are poems written in the style of the ancient Greek poet

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

, known for his celebrations of love. Shelley wrote it in a copy of Leigh Hunt's ''Literary Pocket-Book'', 1819, which was presented to Sophia Stacey, December 29, 1820. The poem is divided in two 8-line stanzas with an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme. The main theme is the relationship between the "connection" that exists for things in the natural world and the poet's desire to be connected to his object of affection. Shelley asks how there can be unity in nature but a lack of union in human relationships. The poetic devices Shelley uses in the poem include Personification (Fountains mingle with the river; Winds of heaven mix forever with a sweet emotion; The mountains kiss high heaven; The waves clasp one another; Moonbeams kiss the sea), Metaphor (No sister flower could be forgiven if it disdained its brother), and the Rhetorical question (If thou kiss not me?).

In popular culture

British composer

Roger Quilter Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the E ...

set the poem to music in 1905 in the composition Love's Philosophy, Op. 3, No 1. In 2003, David Gompper set the poem to music in a score for baritone and piano. Choral composer David N. Childs set the poem to music scored for a four-part women's choir and piano.Love's Philosophy, David N. Childs , Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc.
/ref> It was featured in "Vienna, November 1908", the fifteenth episode of

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" bookend segments filmed in Wilmington, Nort ...

. The second stanza of the poem appears in the second season of ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 for ...

''. The poem was featured in the Season 2, Episode 1 of ''Lewis'' (TV Series) "And The Moonbeams Kiss the Sea" directed by Dan Reed and written by Alan Plater.

References

Sources

*Bonca, Teddi Chichester. ''Shelley's Mirrors of Love: Narcissism, Sacrifice, and Sorority.'' Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. *Shelley, Percy Bysshe. ''The Selected Poetry and Prose of Shelley.'' Ware, Hertfordshire, UK: The Wordsworth Poetry Library, 2002. *Shelley, Percy Bysshe. ''The Complete Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley.'' New York: The Modern Library, 1994.

External links

"Love's Philosophy". Bartleby.comLibriVox audiorecording of "Love's Philosophy", Track 12, Selected Poems and Prose by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
{{Percy Bysshe Shelley Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley 1819 poems