The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a 16th century author who is very well-known for his time. He wrote this poem in response to another poem by Christopher Marlowe titled "The Shepard to his Love". In Marlowe's poem, a shepherd is trying to woo a beautiful woman into being his lover because of the passion he has for her. He promises her a bed of roses and several other trinkets that would have sentimental value to attempt to reflect the girl's infinite beauty. However, as we see in this poem, she is unamused by his offer of material possessions that he himself cannot hope to procure for her. This is best shown by the lines " If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee and be thy love" These lines spell out for the shepherd that the girl knows he's making promises he can't keep just so he can get her to like him more and that she would rather have him tell what he can truly give her if he ever expects to woo her. She then follows this statement up with reasons why, even if the shepherd was able to provide these material possessions, he would still be unable to woo her since everything he has promised either breaks or withers after a time. This is directly said in the lines "Thy gown, thy, shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten." While most would see this as the shepherd's utter rejection, however, in the last stanza the girl gives the shepherd hope by basically stating that if time stood still and everything was preserved she would accept his gesture. This is quite the turn around, in my humble opinion. At first, it looks like all hope is lost for the shepherd. However, even though he is still rejected in the end, the shepherd is told that he has given a fair proposal that would even be considered acceptable to the common girl. It's just that the shepherd had come across one who is more into the long-term side of relationships and love, someone who is focused on building something to last eternity, rather than some simple trinket lover. This speaks volumes about the time period, where women were still being put forth to marriages and relationships they didn't want to be in and therefore never experienced true love. The poem shows what most of those girls would have wanted: relationships built upon foundations of mutual respect and trust that would blossom into the love of their life.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a 16th century author who is very well-known for his time. He wrote this poem in response to another poem by Christopher Marlowe titled "The Shepard to his Love". In Marlowe's poem, a shepherd is trying to woo a beautiful woman into being his lover because of the passion he has for her. He promises her a bed of roses and several other trinkets that would have sentimental value to attempt to reflect the girl's infinite beauty. However, as we see in this poem, she is unamused by his offer of material possessions that he himself cannot hope to procure for her. This is best shown by the lines " If all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee and be thy love" These lines spell out for the shepherd that the girl knows he's making promises he can't keep just so he can get her to like him more and that she would rather have him tell what he can truly give her if he ever expects to woo her. She then follows this statement up with reasons why, even if the shepherd was able to provide these material possessions, he would still be unable to woo her since everything he has promised either breaks or withers after a time. This is directly said in the lines "Thy gown, thy, shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten." While most would see this as the shepherd's utter rejection, however, in the last stanza the girl gives the shepherd hope by basically stating that if time stood still and everything was preserved she would accept his gesture. This is quite the turn around, in my humble opinion. At first, it looks like all hope is lost for the shepherd. However, even though he is still rejected in the end, the shepherd is told that he has given a fair proposal that would even be considered acceptable to the common girl. It's just that the shepherd had come across one who is more into the long-term side of relationships and love, someone who is focused on building something to last eternity, rather than some simple trinket lover. This speaks volumes about the time period, where women were still being put forth to marriages and relationships they didn't want to be in and therefore never experienced true love. The poem shows what most of those girls would have wanted: relationships built upon foundations of mutual respect and trust that would blossom into the love of their life.
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