Prithee English texts, and the difference between the two terms has been debated by scholars. Scholars such as Roger Brown and Albert Gilman have suggested that "prithee" was an ingroup indicator. Other scholars suggest that it is simply the more deferential form. The relationship between the two is complicated by the phrase "beseech you", which was used in the same time period and was clearly the form used most deferentially. Although the closest Modern English equivalent of "prithee" is "please", the two terms presume different attitudes within the addressee. While "please" accompanies a request addressing itself to the positive desire of
One Word is Too Often Profaned employ the word "worship" to describe his devotion towards Jane. He states that the feeling of worship that he feels towards Jane is something that is uplifting and is also moral ("and the heavens reject not"). He describes the nature of his devotion: it is the devotion of a moth for a star or what the night feels towards the next morning. He describes his devotion as something that lies beyond worldly existence and strife ("the sphere of our sorrow"). Shelley uses the sentence "I can give not what men call love" which shows that he himself is not averse