Lyric Poem · Love
Love's Philosophy
by Percy Bysshe Shelley · 1819
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 spirit meet and 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 disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Love's Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/loves-philosophy
Quick facts
- Poem
- Love's Philosophy
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Published
- 1819
- Length
- 16 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems
- Themes
- Love, Funny, Short
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 16 lines · 2 octaves
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on a United States term-expiry review; status can differ elsewhere.
- Author record
- Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
- Source record
- QuillOak curated editionLove's Philosophy (1819) by percy-bysshe-shelley
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1819
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 6f0bee9b93457838…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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