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MaddyKuhn
Mrs.Stanford
ENG234
30March2016
StanzasofLove
Love.Everybodycanobtainitanddesirestohaveitintheirlife.However,not
everybodythinksofloveasthesamethingorthinksofitasthesameconcept.Thetwoauthors
thatwerechosenhaveaspecialbondandconnectionbetweenthemthatcannotbebroken,
marriage.
LovesPhilosophy
byPercyShelleyand
Stanzas
byMaryWollstonecraftShelley
bothhaveacommontheme:love.Theauthorsillustratethisthemethroughdictionandstyleand
itseemsasthoughtheauthorswrotethemabouteachother.
PercyShelleywasbornonAugust4,1792andattendedEtonCollegeandlaterattended
OxfordUniversitybuteventuallydroppedoutofschoolthere.Inthefallof1810,Shellyentered
UniversityCollege,Oxford.ItseemedabetteracademicenvironmentforhimthanEton,but
afterafewmonths,adeandemandedthatShelleyvisithisoffice.ShelleyandhisfriendThomas
JeffersonHogghadcoauthoredapamphlettitled
TheNecessityofAtheism
.Itspremise
shockedandappalledthefaculty,andtheuniversitydemandedthatbothboyseither
acknowledgeordenyauthorship.Shelleydidneitherandwasexpelled.Knownforhislyricaland
longformverse,PercyByssheShelleyisoneofthemosthighlyregardedEnglishRomantic
poetsofthenineteenthcentury(Bio).Shelleyandhisfatherdidnotgetalongverywellbecause
hisfatherwasveryreligiousandShelleywasanatheist.Hisatheismwaswhatinfluencedhis

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writing.Hewentonmanyadventureswithhissecondwife,MaryShelley,theauthorof
Frankenstein.HedrownedinasuddenstormwhilesailinginItalyin1822(Bio).
In
LovesPhilosophy
,Shelleytalksabouthowallthingsinnaturemixtogetherand
everythingcanchaintogether.InthefirststanzaShelleyusesmanyliterarydevicessuchas
personification,imagery,andrepetition.Personificationisusedwhenhesaysthefountains
minglewiththeriver.Imageryisusedbyhimsayingnature,andocean,andsweetemotions.The
secondstanzacorrespondswiththefirststatingthatnaturemixestogethertocreateone.Shelley
statesthatallofthesethingsmixingdonotmeananythingifshe'snotwithhim.Shelleystates,
Whatisallthissweetworkworth/Ifthounotkissme(Shelley1516)?Whatheissayingin
thesetwolinesisthatallofearthsamazing,natural,beautifulthingsiftheyarenottogetherto
seethemandsharethebeautifulthingsinlife.SeethemountainsAlmostasifhessayingthatif
theyarenttogethernothingelsemattersintheworld.Healsosaysthatit'snaturalforthemtobe
together.Thesecondstanzaalsousesliterarythingssuchaspersonificationandimagery.
MaryWollstonecraftwasbornonApril27,1759.Shewasbroughtupbyanabusive
fatherandsoonlefthometodedicateherlifetodecorating.MaryWollstonecraftwasanEnglish
writerwhoadvocatedforwomen'sequality.Herbook,
AVindicationoftheRightsofWoman
,
pressedforeducationalreforms(Bio).Shewasafeministwriterandworkedasatranslatorto
JosephJohnson.Whileworkingforhimshepublishedhermostfamouswork,
AVindicationof
theRightsofaWoman.
The1900sbroughtrenewedinterestinherwritings.In2011,herimage
wasprojectedontothePalaceofWestminstertoraisesupportforapermanentstatueofthe
author(Bio).

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In
Stanzas
byMaryWollstonecraft,sheiswritingaboutherlatehusbandPercyShelley.
SheisbeggingPercytocomebacktoher,toembraceherlikeoldtimeswhentheyweretryingto
havekids.Whenshesays,Oh,cometomeindreams,mylove!itmeanssheiscravingtobe
withhimandseehimagain.Also,sheissayingthatshewantsittofeelrealagain,almostlikea
Greekmythwherethemaidenthoughtitwasreal.Andtherearenostanzas,soonemaythink
thatshemightbeinterpretingthatalloftheirlovemakingisfluid,smoothandlikeafantasy.She
misseshimbeingwithher,everydayonthisearth.Ifhecancomebacktoherinherdreamsshe
won'thavetheemptinessinherheart,shewillnotdesireorlongtobelovedbyhimorseehim.

LovesPhilosophy
and
Stanzas

bothshareacommontheme,love.Notonlydothey
bothcontainwordsthatdealwithandhavesymbolicmeaningtoloveandromancebutifone
readsbetweenthelinesofthepoemthatpersoncansurelyfindloveinthesepoems.Percyand
Mary,theauthorsofthetwopoems,weremarriedsoitmakessensethatthesepoemswouldbe
writtenabouteachother.MarywritesherpoemafterPercydies.Shesstatinginherpoemthat
shemissesPercyandeventhoughheisgonefromtheworld,hecanstillcomebacktoherinher
dreamsandtheycanstillbetogether.PercywriteshispoemaboutMarywhileheisstilltryingto
gether.Heisstatingthatifhedoesnothaveherinthisworldoriftheyarenottogether,nothing
inthiswordwillmatter.Throughoutbothpoemsthereisalsoacommonuseofdictionbetween
them.Theirchoiceofdictionismoreromanticdictionthananythingelse.Theirchoiceofwords
arewordsthatcanflow,andhavealovingmeaning.
Theauthorsillustratethethemeoflovethroughdictionanditseemsasthoughthe
authorswrotetheirpoemsabouttheirloveforeachother.PercyShelleyillustrateslovethrough
hispoembysayingthatnothingelseinthisworldmattersunlesstheyaren'ttogether.Hecannot

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seethebeautifulthingsthisworldhastoauthorifsheisnotwithhim.MaryWollstonecraft
ShelleyillustrateslovethroughherpoembysayingthatshemissesPercysoshewantshimto
comebacktoherinherdreams.WhenPercydoescomeinherdreamsshesayshowit'salmost
real.Lovewillalwaysbethere,andloveconquersall.

WorkCited
Bio.com
.A&ENetworksTelevision,n.d.Web.07Mar.2016.
Bio.com.A&ENetworksTelevision,n.d.Web.07Mar.2016.
Marshell,Kyla."LovesPhilosophy."PoetryFoundation.PoetryFoundation,n.d.Web.07Mar.
2016.
Marshell,Kyla."Stanzas["Oh,CometoMeinDreams,MyLove!"]."PoetryFoundation.Poetry
Foundation,n.d.Web.07Mar.2016.