Young Love
Verlaine's romantic poems are oddly all linked to young love specifically. He classifies these encounters as entirely separate kind of experiences from the grand topic of love more broadly. In Verlaine's descriptions from poems like "Innocents We" and "In Muted Tone" the young people see one another as part of the landscape. They share passion and desire, but these feelings are not corrupted yet by more mature ideas of ownership, commitment, or fear. When the two young lovers of "In Muted Tone" couple, they do so in nature, hidden away in the woods, because the natural beauty of the world around them reflects the purity and intuition of their actions.
The Wildness of Woman
Verlaine writes about women in several instances. In every description, he participates in comparing the woman to some feature of the natural world. The beloved of "Moonlight" becomes an entire forest of singing birds and soft moonlight. Similarly, the ex in "Last Hope" is the tree upon which the bird wishes to land. These comparisons serve to identify the woman as an extension of nature itself, something untamable and vast. In his position outside looking in, Verlaine conceives of women as mysterious creatures of untapped potential. The symbolism extends back to a mythic tradition of woman as the representative of chaos.
Abnegation of the Self
As a romantic poet, Verlaine writes a great many letters addressed to women. He muses upon the past in pieces like "Innocents We." And he writes odes to past lovers like "Last Hope." Through all of these pursuits, however, there is no admission of Verlaine's personal feelings. His words are dedicated to the exterior, to other people and external experiences. In his preoccupation with love and romance, Verlaine effectively excludes himself from the equation. He looks to the woman to be the life-giving force without offering any part of himself in exchange. His attitude, reflected in the blind adoration of "Moonlight," is not so much selfish as passionate. Verlaine has not come close enough to knowing a woman in order to learn about himself and his own fear of himself.
