Hello everyone.

My name's Ms. Keller, and welcome to today's lesson.

I'm really glad you could join me.

In this session, we are going to be reading and understanding Percy Shelley's poem "Love's Philosophy." Okay, so by the end of today's lesson, we will be able to explain how "Love's Philosophy" reflects on the emotional power of love.

So let's explore today's key words.

We have romantic, Romantic, philosophy, controversial and unrequited.

So I'm sure that many of you have noticed that those first two words there both say the word romantic.

However, you'll probably also have noticed that one has a lowercase R and one has an uppercase R.

And it's really important for us to think about the meanings of these two words because they are very different.

And we'll be using both of those words in the lesson today.

So romantic with a lowercase R is probably the definition that you are more familiar with.

It means that something is linked to love, desire, or passion.

This second Romantic then with the capital R, which means it's a proper noun, is the name of something, actually links to a poetic movement of the late 18th and early 19th century focused on emotions and nature.

And we will explore Romantic literature a little bit later in the lesson, but it's really important to know the difference between these two words, because capital R Romantic literature can be about romance with a lowercase R.

It can be about love, but it doesn't have to be.

So that third word then philosophy means the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reality.

Controversial means generating disagreement or dispute, often due to conflicting opinions or sensitive topics.

And finally, unrequited, which means not reciprocated or returned, typically referring to love or affection.

So, how is today's lesson going to look? Well, we are going to start by thinking about the wider context of the poem, and then once we've done that, we are going to explore the poem itself.

So I'd like to start off the lesson with a discussion.

Shelley was a Romantic poet.

And note how that Romantic there has got the capital R.

Romantic poet, he wrote Romantic literature.

So my question to you is, what do you already know about Romantic literature? So you can discuss this in pairs or small groups, or if you're working on your own, that's okay.

Just make a few notes on your paper or in your exercise books.

Take as much time as you need by pressing pause and then click play when you're ready to continue and we'll feed back some responses.

Okay, welcome back.

Really great discussions taking place there.

So the first response that I overheard that I would like to share with you is this idea that Romantic literature is primarily focused on emotional experiences and exploring abstract concepts.

So it focuses less on perhaps concrete stories where we follow a character through a sequence of events, and instead looks at topics, looks at issues by thinking about the emotional experiences that people have with them, and by exploring them as a concept in themselves.

And in this regard, common themes that we often see in Romantic literature include love, nature, the supernatural and individualism here.

And if we look at that list, we can pick up on the idea that I was explaining earlier with the key words.

That capital R, Romantic poetry can be about love, but it doesn't have to be.

It could also be about any one of those topics on that list.

Thirdly then, Romantic literature often included social commentary or a political critique.

And what I mean by that is that often Romantic poets would subtly weave their views or their opinions about things that were happening in society into their poetry.

And it's important when I say subtly, because remember that the Romantic literature is focusing on the idea of abstract concepts.

And last of all then, a few famous romantic writers.

So we've got Percy Shelley, who is the poet we are studying today.

Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Mary Shelley, who was Percy Shelley's wife.

And some of you may have heard her name before because she wrote a very, very famous novel called "Frankenstein." So let's pause here and check our knowledge of the wider context so far.

So, true or false, Romantic poetry always explores ideas related to love? So pause the video here while you have a think, and then when you think you've decided, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back, and well done to those of you who said false.

So now let's try to justify this answer.

So have a read through of these two explanations and see which one you think best justifies the answer to the previous section.

So pause the video while you have a read and make your mind up.

And when you think you've decided, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Okay, well done to those of you who said B, Romantic poetry is often about love, but it also explores other topics such as nature, the supernatural and identity.

Okay, so back over to you for another discussion then.

So we know that Shirley was a Romantic poet, and we know a little bit about Romantic literature.

So now my question to you is, what do you already know about Percy Shelley? So have a think, discuss this with the people around you or make a few notes.

Click pause while you do that and then click play when you're ready to continue and we'll feed back some responses.

Welcome back.

So I had some really interesting discussions taking place there, and in particular a lot of people picking up on that word down there in purple, controversial.

So that is one of our lesson's keywords.

And if we remember it means if an opinion is controversial, it means that it goes against the grain perhaps of what we believe in society.

It's taboo.

It's an opinion that not many people in society would agree with.

So often Percy Shelley was considered to be a controversial figure.

So let's explore that idea in a bit more detail then.

So he was a vocal atheist, and an atheist is somebody who doesn't believe in God.

And during the Georgian period when Percy Shelley was writing, society was very religious and many people held religious views.

So the idea that Shelley was an atheist, and even more a very vocal atheist, would have been seen as quite controversial.

And we can see that here because he was actually expelled from Oxford University for writing atheist literature.

And he also shocked his family with his controversial views.

So he held many views and opinions that were quite shocking to perhaps older members of his family who might have had more traditional views for the time.

So he was a vegetarian.

And while we might not think that as being very shocking today, and in fact eating a vegetarian diet is very common in today's society, back in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it wasn't quite so common.

Meat was something that was associated with wealth, and in fact, many poor people didn't have access to meat regularly in their meals.

Now again, if we think back to this idea that Georgian society was quite religious, this had an effect on how people viewed romantic relationships and sexual relationships.

And in fact, sex was something that was not discussed in public, and it was also something that was not practise outside of marriage.

Many people believed that you had to be married first before you could have sex.

So Shelley's beliefs here in sexual liberation would be considered quite controversial.

And in fact, we can trace this idea that he perhaps believed in having a bit more of an open-minded approach to sex and romantic relationships in his own scandalous relationship.

If we think about his first marriage, we see that he actually left his young wife while she was pregnant with their second child.

And when she committed suicide shortly after, he actually was refused custody of his own children.

Now, if we put that into perspective, in Georgian's society there were, for example, no laws surrounding child labour.

So we can infer that the right and duty of care to children was not something necessarily at the top of the list of priorities for Georgian society.

And given that we know that Shelley was refused his custody because of his wayward behaviour, it really leads us to beg the question, how wayward was that behaviour if this protection order for the children was put in place? So back over to you then for another discussion.

Now we know all of this information about Percy Shelley's life, I would like you to think about what impression that gives us of Shelley as a person, and also how might that affect our reading of "Love's Philosophy." So pause the video while you discuss this, and then when you are ready to continue, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

One thing that I was particularly impressed about with these discussions is I could see that people were starting to draw links between these different pieces of information to build up a holistic picture of what Shelley might have been like.

So let's have a look at what we could have said.

First of all then, this idea that he was a vocal atheist in a society that was primarily religious, and also that his family were quite shocked by some of the controversial views that he held strongly suggests to us that Shelley was not afraid to be different.

He was not afraid to stand out from the crowd and have different views and opinions to the majority of people that he knew.

If we think about his beliefs around sexual liberation, and also what we know about his scandalous first marriage, we could infer that Shelley prioritises desire over commitment.

Perhaps Shelley prioritises romance and sexual behaviour over the long-term commitment that comes with a romantic relationship, in some cases.

And finally then the fact that his views resulted in him being expelled from university suggests that he's very outspoken and he's not afraid to stand up for his beliefs, even when there are negative consequences for him.

So let's pause here and check our understanding again.

So what impression do we get of Shelley from what we know about his life? So have a look at the three options there and decide which one you think best answers the question.

Click pause while you take a moment to read, and then click play when you are ready for me to reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you said B, he had strong opinions and he wasn't afraid to be vocal when expressing them.

So now it's time for us to practise our knowledge of the wider context.

And I'd like us to do that by using what we know to make predictions about what we think is going to happen in the poem, or what we think the poem is going to be about.

So I would like you to discuss each statement or make some notes if you're working on your own, and justify your responses with things you know about the wider context of the poem.

So I'm going to show you five different statements that relate to this poem, and I would like you to think about whether you agree or you disagree with each one, why that is, and what important links you can make to that contextual knowledge to justify your ideas.

So let's have a look at this statement.

Number one "Love's Philosophy" was based on Shelley's first love his childhood sweetheart, who he stayed with for over 50 years.

Number two, "Love's Philosophy" is a Romantic poem.

Number three, "Love's Philosophy" focuses on how important religion and Christianity are to romantic love.

Number four, Shelley was someone who believed that modesty and commitment were important aspects of loving relationships.

And number five, "Love's Philosophy" focuses on the abstract emotional aspects of love and relationships.

So pause the video for as long as you need to, to give this a really good go.

And then when you think you've made your mind up about each of these statements and you're ready to go through some responses, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you had a chance to give that a really good go.

So let's have a look at what you could have said by considering what some of our Oak students thought about each of these statements.

So number one "Love's Philosophy" was based on Shelley's first love, his childhood sweetheart, who he stayed with for over 50 years.

Andeep said, "I disagree with this statement because we know that Shelley's first marriage was turbulent and scandalous, ending with his wife's suicide after he abandoned her while she was pregnant.

Given this, it's unlikely he would write a romantic poem reflecting on this particular relationship." And I really like this response because Andeep's actually combining what we know about Shelley's life with what impressions that gave us of him as a person.

So number two then, "Love" is a Romantic poem and we've got that uppercase R here, so we know we're talking about Romantic literature.

And Laura said, "I agree with this statement because we know that Shelley was a Romantic poet.

The title suggests that this poem will be about love, which was a common theme in Romantic poetry.

Also, the word philosophy implies that it will reflect on the abstract concepts or emotions associated with love, which was common in Romantic literature." And what's particularly effective about this response is that Laura has cleverly broken down the words in the title.

Number three, "Love's Philosophy" focuses on how important religion and Christianity are to romantic love.

And Izzy said, "I think it's unlikely that this statement is accurate, because it is believed that Shelley was a vocal atheist who was actually expelled from Oxford University for writing atheist literature that was considered controversial at the time.

Therefore, it's improbable to suggest that this poem may speak positively about the importance of religion." And what's really good about this response here is Izzy's use of tentative language there in purple, unlikely and improbable.

Number four then, Shelley was someone who believed that modesty and commitment were important aspects of loving relationships.

And Jun said, "While we can't be certain about Shelley's view on love, it's unlikely that Shelley believed in the importance of modesty and commitment.

It's believed he held strong views about sexual liberation, something considered taboo in Georgian society, and secondly, his own first marriage ended quickly and under scandalous circumstances." And again, Jun's using tentative language really well here.

And even in fact starting off with this idea that we cannot be certain about what Shelley thought about love.

And last one then, "Love's Philosophy" focuses on the abstract emotional aspects of love and relationships.

And Alex said, "I agree with this statement because Shelley was a Romantic poet, and this type of poetry often deals with abstract concept or emotional ideas.

Furthermore, the use of the word philosophy in the title suggests it's likely that the text will focus on ideas associated with love rather than narrating a specific relationship or experience." So again, we've got this idea that Alex is picking up on those keywords from the title and using lots of that fantastic tentative language.

So well done if you are using lots of tentative language in your responses as well.

Okay, so we've made it to the halfway point of the lesson, and now it's time for us to start to explore the poem.

So I'd like to start with a discussion then.

What does the word philosophy mean to you? So pause the video while you have a discussion or you make some notes.

And when you're ready to feedback your responses, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, so I hope you've all had a chance to get that initial definition clear in your mind, 'cause now I would like to show you three sentences, and each of these sentences uses the word philosophy in a different context.

So as you're reading through these sentences, I would like you to consider whether they support your initial definition, or whether you might need to change that initial definition based on what you've read.

So number one, Socrates' philosophy in ancient Greece focused on asking questions and finding truth through talking.

Number two, the company's philosophy is about doing business in a way that helps the environment and treats everyone fairly.

And number three, my philosophy is to be kind, understand others and always try to be better.

So back over to you then.

Having read these three sentences, has your definition of philosophy changed? Take a few moments to discuss this by pausing the video, and when you're ready to continue, click play.

Welcome back.

So let's have a look at what philosophy means.

Well, it means the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, reality, and the nature of the universe.

So philosophy is where we question and where we learn about how the world came to be in the way that it is.

And then if we pair that with the rest of the title, so "Love's Philosophy," we can infer that this poem is going to be about the study of fundamental questions about love.

So we're going to be considering how love comes about, perhaps, or how it works.

So what I'd like to do now then is to read the poem, and what I would like you to think about as you're reading is, how does the speaker feel about love? "The fountains mingle with the river and the rivers with the ocean.

The winds of Heaven mix forever 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?" So now we've had a chance to read then, I would like you just to discuss briefly amongst yourselves what you think the speaker's philosophy on love is.

So pause the video while you discuss this and then click play when you're ready to feed back your responses.

Okay, welcome back.

It was so great to see lots of different discussions taking place across the room and hearing lots of you debating what you think the speaker's philosophy on love is.

So now it's time for us to reread the poem again together.

And this time we're going to take a closer look at the methods that Shelley uses to explore his ideas about love.

So I'd like to start then with stanza one, and in particular I would like to focus on Shelley's use of natural imagery.

So here we can see fountains, river, ocean, winds.

We've got lots of different parts of the natural world in this poem, which presents love as an inherent force of nature.

Here, love is being likened to these features in the natural world, and to these natural processes that take place.

We've also got lots of religious imagery, such as winds of heaven and a law divine, which suggests that love here is a powerful spiritual force.

So we're getting this idea of love being related to some sort of higher power.

And that's particularly interesting when you consider that we know that Shelley wasn't a particularly religious person.

So that's where we can pick up on this idea that perhaps here he's being more spiritual rather than religious.

And last of all then his use of verbs.

So we've got mingle and mix here in the first stanza, which emphasises the interconnectedness of all things, because these two words in particular involve the idea that there's more than one thing that is coming together.

So in the first stanza, the speaker believes that all natural things are connected and intertwined, including love.

So love is part of this natural symmetry that's taking place that we can see everywhere.

And then that last line, they wonder why that this is not the case with the person that they are speaking to in the poem.

So over to you then for stanza two, I'd like you to have a go and see if you can find any of those methods here in the second stanza.

So remember that you had natural imagery, religious imagery, and verbs.

So pause the video while you have a look at this stanza and see what you can find, and then click play when you're ready to discuss it.

Okay, welcome back.

Again, lots of fantastic discussions taking place, and I was really impressed to see people start to pick out these key quotations and identifying those methods.

So let's start with natural imagery.

So we had lots of examples in this second stanza.

Mountains, waves, flower, sunlight, earth, moonbeams, and sea.

So we've got this idea coming through then that symmetry and union is what makes nature beautiful.

And then this idea of religious imagery.

So we had a few examples.

Again, we had high Heaven, and we also had sister and brother, because sister and brother is a way commonly used in the Bible to refer to men and women, because it implies that everybody is a child of God, that everybody is part of this big family, this big religious family.

So we have got this idea then that love bridges the natural and the spiritual world, particularly if we look at that first line, "The mountains kiss high Heaven." So Shelley's creating this image of an enormous mountain that is so tall, reaching up to the sky that is almost able to kiss the heavens above.

Finally then, the verbs.

So we've got kiss, clasp, disdained, and then another kiss there at the bottom.

And all these verbs in one way or another link to an emotional connection.

So we have more obvious examples such as kiss, which we associate often with romantic behaviour.

Clasp, again, we've got this idea of an embrace of some sort, a hug, holding somebody close, which we could link to an emotional connection.

And then we've also got this word disdained, which is different to the other words in that it is a negative emotion, but it does still link to this idea of an emotional connection.

Although instead of showing perhaps the two people like each other, it might show that two people really dislike each other.

It's still a word that is linked to emotions.

So if we look at the second stanza then, we can see that the speaker is motivated by desire and the love that they seek seems unrequited, and we can see that there in those last two lines.

"What are all these kissings worth if thou kiss not me?" So we get actually two examples of things that, elements of nature that kiss in this stanza, "the mountains kiss high Heaven," and "the moonbeams kiss the sea." And our speaker here is saying, well, what's the point of this natural symmetry, this natural kissing that's taking place if you won't kiss me? Okay, let's pause here and check our understanding of the poem.

So at the end of each stanza, Shelley uses what to imply that the speaker's love for another is unrequited.

So pause here while you look at the answers, and when you think you've chosen, click play and I'll reveal the correct answer.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you said C.

So as a first part of this task, I would like you to have a brief discussion, quick fire, just a minute or so, and thinking really carefully about which of these readings you most agree with and why.

So form that initial opinion that you're going to take through to help you with the second part of this task.

Pause the video for a minute while you discuss it, and then click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, welcome back.

So I hope you have had a good chance to think about which of those readings you most agreed with.

So now what I would like you to do is to make some notes in this table to explore both interpretations of the poem.

So we're gonna work through both of those different readings, finding evidence and making some notes on the writer's use of methods.

So pause the video while you complete this table, and when you're ready to feed back your responses, click play and we'll go through it.

Okay, welcome back.

It was really great to see so many of you giving this a really good go, and picking out those key quotations from the poem, and even better starting to annotate and to unpick Shelley's use of language.

So well done.

So let's have a look at what you could have written.

So this first interpretation then, "Love's Philosophy" is a passionate argument about the speaker's thoughts on love.

So evidence you could have chosen, "All things by a law divine in one another's being mingle," because we've got that reference there to the word divine.

So we have this quantifier of all which encompasses everything, and then divine, which is linking to higher spiritual powers.

And then the second interpretation then, it is a desperate plea to another person, expressing the speaker's unrequited desires.

So evidence, we could have chosen that very last line, "What are all these kissings worth if thou kiss not me?" And here the repetition of the word kiss frames the discussion of nature through the lens of the speaker's individual experiences.

So all the way throughout the poem, the speaker has been picking out all these examples from nature, except this very last one is suddenly framed at the end of, well, if all these kissing are happening in nature, why is this kiss that I want to happen not happening? So it's suddenly brought right back round into the speaker's personal desires.

So now that you have had a chance to find that evidence and make your notes on the writer's use of methods, I'd like you to consider again which statement you most agree with.

Perhaps you're still sticking true to your initial choice, or perhaps based on the evidence you have now changed to the other reading.

So for the final part of this task then, what I would like you to do is to write a few sentences explaining which of these readings you most agree with, and giving your reasons why.

And I'd like you to challenge yourself to use words from the vocabulary bank to help you add detail.

So we've got lots of great examples of tentative language there, as well as some of the important words we've been using in this lesson.

So press pause while you give this a go.

And when you think you've written your sentences, click play and we'll go through some responses.

Okay, welcome back.

So it's time to check your work.

So I'd like you to take a moment to read through what you've written and ask yourself the following: in your explanation, have you identified which statement you most agree with? Have you included supporting evidence from the poem? And have you justified your ideas with an exploration of the writer's methods? And have you made relevant links to the wider context of the poem? And finally, have you used tentative language to express personal interpretations? These are those words such as likely, perhaps, plausible.

So once you've read through and checked your answer against this checklist, I would like you to give yourself a what went well and an even better if for next time.

So what did you do really well? What was the most effective part of your response? And if you did this again, what might you do differently? Pause the video again while you review your work, and then when you're ready to continue, click play and we'll carry on.

Okay, so we have made it to the end of today's lesson, and I hope you're really pleased with everything that you have achieved in the session.

So let's just summarise what we've covered today.

Romantic literature often deals with powerful spiritual ideas and dramatic themes.

Shelley was a Romantic poet who was known for his controversial views about societal issues.

"Love's Philosophy" focuses on the links between love, nature, and the connectedness of all things in the natural world.

It could be read as a passionate argument of the power of love and the importance of human connectedness, or it could also be read as the speaker's expression of their overwhelming desire for another.

So thanks again for joining me, and I hope you feel a little bit more confident when it comes to understanding this poem.

Have a fantastic day, and I hope to see you again soon.