Compare how poets present attitudes towards a romantic love in ‘Love’s Philosophy’ and in one other poem from ‘Love and relationships’.

‘Love’s philosophy’ by Shelley and ‘When we two parted’ by Lord Byron both explore desperation for romantic love through nature. Whilst they both embrace nature, both poets use this semantic field differently to express their portrayal of love. Byron focuses more on human nature while Shelley explores the supernatural nature of love which is demonstrated through the use of structure, natural imagery and religious imagery. Firstly, both poets use natural imagery to highlight the unrequited nature of their love. In ‘Love’s philosophy’ this is primarily represented in the juxtaposition of stanzas 1 to 2, from ‘fountains’ to ‘moonbeams’. The use of grander, supernatural images instead of earth like images through personification, emphasises an increased desperation towards a love that is unattainable. This change is also presented in the shift of dynamic verbs from ‘mix’ to ‘clasp’, the contrast to using physical verbs consequently highlights a forced love. Similarly, Byron uses natural imagery ‘the dew of the morning’ to convey a lost love. The noun ‘dew’ suggests that this is the only evidence remaining of the relationship, which suggests an omen of suffering as this love no longer exists. However, unlike ‘Love’s Philosophy’, ‘When we two parted’ uses very few literary devices perhaps to show that love cannot be compared to anything or alternatively that intimate relationships are private and shouldn’t be shared. In this way, both poems are similar in that the emphasis is on the unattainable, which considering Byron and Shelley’s background perhaps is a reference to illicit intimate affairs that must be kept clandestine.