Listening to the moon Analysis

Listening to the moon,
gazing at the croaking of frogs
in a field of ripe rice.


Translated by Robert Hass

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ELI D-
In to the moon, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poet uses selective diction to show the readers a glimpse of someone’s personal life. He starts by saying that the character in the poem has grown pale and tired from climbing heaven and gazing at the earth. This isn’t taken literally, but rather climbing heaven refers to overcoming a long journey or difficult undertaking. The character wanders in isolation amongst stars the have a different birth. This probably means that the character wanders amongst starts that he can’t even relate to, because they are so different from him.
The poem is a paradox in itself, because the title is about getting to the moon, but the poem talks about wandering amongst the stars. The moon and the stars are in two completely different realms and it would be impossible to be by both in such a short duration of time. This paradox ties into the characters long journeys, and by making such an impracticable claim, it shows that even the most arduous expedition is possible. Shelley chose the moon in the title, because just like a moon has no light of its own, but its light is merely a reflection of the sun, so too the character in the poem isn’t a complete person, and he’s just a reflection of someone else. That’s why he is companionless, and he can’t find what he’s looking for.
The tone of this poem is one of isolation. The diction in the poem, which include words such as: weariness, climbing, changing, wandering, and joyless, are all words that describe someone who has given up his will to live. He can’t find anything that completes him, and he is constantly searching for something which he can’t find.

| Posted on 2008-12-19 | by a guest