"The Moon," is a long, dedicatory poem written to the moon, in adoration and awe of

her. Shelley had a penchant for writing poetry to different forces of nature; his more
well-known counterparts to "The Moon" are his poems on the west wind ("Ode to the
est ind"!, clouds ("The "loud"!, and skylarks ("To the Skylark"!. "The Moon" is
another one of these poems; in it, he contemplates the moon, its significance, its #eauty,
its sym#olism, and its impact on people looking up at it. The most hea$ily used poetic
techni%ue that Shelley applies is that of personification, where he gi$es the moon human-
like traits, to make it seem like it is a human #eing, and not an inanimate o#&ect. This
endows the moon with a definite personality, and layers of depth that enhance its #eauty
and profundity. 'or e(ample, consider this stan)a*
"+,-, like a dying lady lean and pale,
ho totters forth, wrapp.d in a gau)y $eil,
Out of her cham#er, led #y the insane
+nd fee#le wanderings of her fading #rain,
The mood arose up in the murky east,
+ white and shapeless mass."
/n this stan)a, Shelley compares the moon to a woman who is dying, losing her mind, and
stum#ling a#out in the dark. This makes the moon seem infinitely sad and pitiful, and
gi$es it a comple(ity that &ust descri#ing its #eauty would ha$e left out. 0e personifies it
in many different ways other than a dying woman, and each new way adds depth.
Shelley also uses imagery, or the fi$e senses, to descri#e the #eauty of the moon. 0e also
applies rhyming techni%ues to gi$e it a flow and rhythm. There isn.t enough room to
discuss all of the poem or its techni%ues, #ut / hope this helps you to at least get started.
1ood luck2
0igh School - 34th 1rade
/n the first stan)a the poet desci#es the moon with an old lady who is sickley and
dying.+nd in the second stan)a he compares the moon with a young lady. +nd he says
that " of clim#ing hea$en and ga)ing on earth" as if the moon has died and has reached
the hea$en...and is watching the earth from all a#o$e.
/n the 3st stan)a as the poet descri#es the moon as a dying lady he says that she is lyk a
dying lady who is sick and pale. pale #ecause pro#a#ly she has no #lood in her #ody
#ecause she is in her death phase and lean #ecause she is old. This poem can also #e told
to #e an alligory #ecause its each line has two meanings. 0e rather descri#es the moon to
#e senile #ecause it was during the dusk time when the moon was rising and thus it
looked pale. 0e has also told that the moon is wrapped in a "gau)y $eil" i.e #y some thin
or transparent cloth. and here the .gau)y $eil. has #een compared wid clouds. This is
#ecause when da moon was rising it was dusk time and the faint #eam of sunlight was
still their which made the tym look gloomy and the clouds wrapped up the moon lyk the
$eil. The sky was yet to #e dark so the moon wase.nt #right enough so the poet compared
the old lady.s (the moon.s! #rain as a fading one as she was fee#le and she was
wandering. This is to #e noted here that in the two stan)as the poet has descri#ed the
moon to #e wandering. 5ut thr is a #ig difference in #oth the cases. /n the first stan)a the
moon wonders #ecause she is old,fee#le,sickly and she totters as she dosent knw whr to
go. 5t in the second stan)a she wanders #ecause she is alone and she is in search of a
companion. 0e also says that the moon arose in the murky east this is #ecause the sun
was setting and the tym was gloomy. The moon seemed to #e a shapeless mass #ecause it
it was still not a full moon yet.
/n the second stan)a he says "art thou" dat is he directly addresses the moon. These words
make it clear that the poet is offering an idealsed description of the moon in the traditoin
of medie$al lo$e poetry. +nd he says that the moon is "pale for weariness" dat is #ecause
the moon is tiered of serching a companion for herself. +nd then the moon clim#es the
hea$en and watches the earth.This means that the moon is now high up in the sky,
#ecause the sun has fully set #y now and the dark hours ha$e started. 0e says the moon is
lonley among the stars #ecause they ha$e a different #irth and so she remains lonely and
keeps on changing lyk a &oyless eye. 0er eyes are &oyless #ecause she has no companion
and she changes #ecause a moon has its different phase. +nd we see the moon sometimes
partly sometimes full and so on. +nd in the last line the poet say " that finds no o#&ect
worth its constancy" i.e the moon realises that no one truly deser$es her lo$e and so she
remains alone comapionless for e$er in her own hea$enly world wrapped with sorrow.