Love's Philosophy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Love's Philosophy

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle—
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea—
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

I was attracted by the title Love’s Philosophy. Here, the term “philosophy” does not, however, mean simply a particular set of ideas, reasoning, or theories. What exactly would philosophy of love be and how could love be defined philosophically? It seems extremely difficult and ambiguous to come up with a definition of such a philosophy, especially that of love. Personally, I cannot even think of one. However, Shelly’s philosophy seems quite different from other philosophies.
When I first skimmed the poem I found that the ends of the lines rhyme. Also with careful word choices, the poet delivers the beauty of language through the poem. While I was reading the poem, I liked the part where Shelly states, ‘Nothing in the world is single, all things by a law divine in one another’s being mingle.’ This part gave me an idea of how the society goes by and how the people interact with each other. In fact, the world is full of love and life is an endless chain of meeting and parting. Basically, both life and love are beautiful in my perspective, even if there would be some misery and sadness going by.
Therefore, I found this poem beautiful, sweet, warm, and hopeful. The poet seems to imply that nothing in the world is single but rather everything is mingled. At this part, I could feel the unity and harmony of universe. Moreover, it was interesting that the poet described how the mountains are kissing the high heaven and the waves are clasping one another. However, it is also interesting how, at the end of this poem, the narrator says that even if the sunlight clasps the earth and the moonbeams kiss the sea, if you refuse to kiss ‘me’ (the narrator), then all those are worthless. This part made me feel the emotions of how her love is great and boundless.
Overall, I could sympathize with this poem well since every stanza was agreeable, pleasing, and touching all at the same time. I am looking forward to being able to feel this kind of deep, mature, and pure feeling.