Unabashedly romantic, the poem manages to capture so much of infatuation without ever veering into the maudlin, maintaining a certain ironic self-awareness. Will-they-won't- they aspect of the romance provides a suspenseful counterpoint to the serious political content. The story structure, which through various foreshadowing elements keeps us guessing whether the narrator will achieve his goal, does a really good job of keeping the suspense up as we move through the various political and philosophical themes and tonal variations.