AQA Love and Relationships

Longing and Desire in Love and Relationships6 key quotes across the anthology.

How poets express yearning, desire and the need for a loved one's presence.

All Longing and Desire Quotes

“A shudder comes o'er me - why wert thou so dear?”
When We Two Parted — Lord Byron
Loss and AbsenceLonging and Desire

Context: The speaker reacts physically to hearing his former lover's name.

Analysis

The visceral "shudder" shows grief and possibly shame as a physical reaction, suggesting the relationship still haunts him. The rhetorical question "why wert thou so dear?" conveys regret and the speaker's inability to understand his lingering feelings. Love here is painful and inescapable.

Language Techniques:

Rhetorical questionPhysical imagery

Exam Tip

Use for the lasting, painful effects of lost love. The secrecy ("thy name") suggests reputation and shame.

“What is all this sweet work worth if thou kiss not me?”
Love's Philosophy — Percy Bysshe Shelley
Longing and DesireRomantic Love

Context: The final rhetorical question of the poem.

Analysis

After cataloguing nature's unions, the speaker turns the argument personal with a rhetorical question demanding a kiss. The slightly petulant tone reveals that this is ultimately about physical desire, not philosophy. The unanswered question leaves his longing unfulfilled.

Language Techniques:

Rhetorical questionVoltaDirect address

Exam Tip

Closing quote for unfulfilled desire. The whole "philosophy" is a seduction technique — note the gap between grand claims and a simple kiss.

“I think of thee! - my thoughts do twine and bud about thee, as wild vines, about a tree”
Sonnet 29 - 'I think of thee' — Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Longing and DesireRomantic Love

Context: The opening of the sonnet, describing how thoughts of her beloved grow.

Analysis

The natural simile of "wild vines" growing around a "tree" presents her thoughts as organic, abundant and slightly overwhelming. The verbs "twine and bud" suggest fertile, living love. Yet the image hints that thoughts can obscure the real person, setting up the poem's argument.

Language Techniques:

Extended metaphorNatural imageryEnjambment

Exam Tip

Use for intense romantic longing. Note how she then rejects mere "thoughts" in favour of his physical presence.

“I will not have my thoughts instead of thee”
Sonnet 29 - 'I think of thee' — Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Longing and DesireRomantic Love

Context: The volta, where she rejects thoughts in favour of the real man.

Analysis

The emphatic "I will not" marks a turn from imagination to physical desire — she wants the real man, not just thoughts of him. This subverts the convention of pining from afar, asserting active female desire. Barrett Browning celebrates physical, present love over idealisation.

Language Techniques:

VoltaAssertive tonePetrarchan sonnet form

Exam Tip

Key quote for physical desire and female agency. Compare the longing with the persuasion in Love's Philosophy.

“She sleeps up in the attic there alone, poor maid. 'Tis but a stair betwixt us”
The Farmer's Bride — Charlotte Mew
Longing and DesireDistance and Separation

Context: The frustrated farmer reflects on the physical distance between them.

Analysis

The single "stair betwixt us" symbolises the unbridgeable emotional gulf in the marriage, despite physical closeness. The farmer's growing desire ("'Tis but a stair") sounds ominous, hinting at possible coercion. Mew creates tension and sympathy for the trapped wife.

Language Techniques:

SymbolismDialectForeboding tone

Exam Tip

Closing quote on emotional distance and threat. The "stair" is a powerful symbol of separation within a marriage.

“is priceless baby”
Singh Song! — Daljit Nagra
Romantic LoveLonging and Desire

Context: The narrator's closing endearment to his wife as they flirt in the shop.

Analysis

The playful "priceless" puns on the shop's pricing while declaring his wife's worth beyond money. The intimate "baby" and the moonlit setting create a tender, joyful close. Nagra ends on the triumph of love over commerce and duty.

Language Techniques:

PunTerm of endearmentRomantic resolution

Exam Tip

Closing quote on the joy of love. The pun on "priceless" shows love valued above the family business.

Explore More Love and Relationships Themes

Browse quotes by theme across all 15 poems, or view the full anthology.

Romantic LoveFamilial LoveLoss and AbsenceDistance and SeparationMemoryPower and ControlNature
All Love and Relationships QuotesPractice with English Genie