Shelley's speaker points to rivers, winds, mountains and moonbeams to argue that everything in nature joins with something else, so why not the beloved? It is a playful poem for teaching argument, personification and rhetorical questions. This free worksheet has the full poem with numbered lines, vocabulary, five discussion questions, a writing prompt and an answer key. No signup needed.
Grades 8–11 · Common Core RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.5 · US Letter PDF, with an answer key on the last page
What’s on the worksheet
Shelley wrote "Love's Philosophy" in 1819; it was published in 1819 in The Indicator. It has two eight-line stanzas. Each stanza builds an argument from nature and ends with a question to the beloved.
Vocabulary
- mingle: mix together
- divine: heavenly, from God
- clasp: hold tightly
- disdained: looked down on, rejected
- philosophy: a set of ideas or beliefs about how the world works
Discussion questions
- List three examples from nature that the speaker uses in stanza 1.
- What is the "law divine" the speaker describes?
- Find two examples of personification in stanza 2.
- Both stanzas end with a question. What is the speaker really asking?
- Why might the poem be called "Love's Philosophy"? Is the argument convincing?
Writing prompt
Write a short persuasive poem in which you use examples from nature or everyday life to argue for something you want. End each stanza with a question.
The answer key is included in the PDF, on its own page for teachers.