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And I will make thee beds of Roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;

Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

Here, we are given a glimpse of a man's attempt at wooing his love, where he utilizes not only nature, but perception to achieve his goal. Why is perception important? Through the man's own perception, he believes that he can give the woman he loves a fantasy of a lifestyle, one where he will make her beds of roses and gowns made of the finest wools. Where both will forget life's worries and live carefree staring off into the fields of livestock and rivers. However, this perception is tainted and false because this lifestyle does not exist.

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https://poemanalysis.com/christopher-marlowe/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love/

This website gives a brief description of the format of the poem. It goes on to give a short summary as well as analysis of the stanzas one by one. From stanza one to six, it provides the exact quotes from the poem followed with an analysis to better understanding the purpose and meaning of the poem. The reason why I chose this website is because it gives a direct and in-depth understanding and emphasis of the usage of persuasion, which plays a key role. It highlights how perception is different for everyone: the shepherd, the nymph and the audience.

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'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' by Christopher Marlowe is a six stanza poem which is made up of sets of four lines, or quatrains. Each of these quatrains follows the consistent rhyming pattern of aabb ccdd... and so on. The poet has chosen to utilize this rhyming pattern in an effort to create a sing-song-like melody to the poem. It is a piece with a hopeful and pleasant tone, and the rhyme scheme emphasizes this feature.

Summary

' The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' by Christopher Marlowe describes the life that a shepherd wishes to create for his lover if she agrees to come and live with him.

The poem begins with the speaker asking his lover to come and be with him forever. If she does this simple thing, they will be able to experience all the joy that the world has to offer. They will have all the best in life.

He continues on to state that not only will they be happy in their love, but that he will create for her the most lovely of items. He will use the flowers in their new abode to craft pieces of clothing like hats and petticoats. The shepherd will also use the wool from their lambs to make her dresses. He clearly believes that these items of clothing will be enough, along with his love, to entice her to live with him.

By the end of the piece, it is not clear whether or not she accepts his offer, but he seems to understand that it is up to her. He has done his best, and is awaiting her answer.

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

Stanza One

The speaker of this poem, the "Passionate Shepherd," begins by making the one request of his lover that serves as the basis for the rest of the poem. He at once lives up to his name as he asks his unnamed lover to "Come live with me." He is hoping that she, upon hearing his request, will leave whatever life she is living behind, and come and "be [his] love" wherever he may be.

He does not leave her without some idea of what it will be like to live with him, in fact, he spends the majority of the rest of 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' describing to his love what her life will be if she agrees.

The second half of this first quatrain describes how when the two of them are together, with nothing standing between them, they will "all the pleasures prove." They will venture out into the world and "yield," or take, from the "Valleys, groves, hills and fields / Woods, or steepy mountain[s]," everything they have to offer. There will be nothing in the world from which the couple cannot feel passion.

Stanza Two

In the second stanza of 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love', the speaker goes on to describe some day to day details of what their lives would be like together. He states that they will "sit upon the Rocks" of this new and beautiful world they are living in together and "See" the "Shepherds" with their flocks of sheep. They will observe the world that they used to live in, and appreciate its intricacies.

Due to the fact that their lives are now devoted to one another and to the world they inhabit, they have time to notice the details around them. They will see and hear the "shallow Rivers," and the "Melodious birds" which sing to the crashing of the falling water. The songs the birds sing will be like "Madrigals," or harmonious pieces of music written for multiple voices.

Stanza Three

The shepherd still has a number of different enticements to offer his lover in the hope that she will join him. He describes how he will "make [her] a bed of Roses." He will fill her life with flowers by creating for her a "kirtle" or an outer gown, and a "cap," which will all be "Embroidered...with the leaves of Myrtle," a common flowering shrub.

Stanza Four

In the fourth quatrain and the halfway point of 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love', the speaker continues on describing the different pieces of clothing and accessories that he will craft for his lover. It is important to remember that all of these items are contingent on her coming to live with him.

He will spin for her a "gown made of the finest wool" from the lambs that they will tend together. His occupation is now working in her favor and he is able to make her exactly, what he thinks, she wants.

He does not neglect her feet and states that she will also have "Fair lined slippers" that she can wear when it gets cold. Her buckles on her shoes will be made of the "purest gold."

Stanza Five

In the second to last stanza, he begins to conclude his offer. He finishes up describing the wardrobe she will have by describing her gaining a belt made "of straw and Ivy buds." It will also feature "Coral clasps and Amber studs." It is clear that the speaker is doing his utmost to find and describe things that he thinks she wants the most. Whether this is the case or not the reader will never know.

In the second half of the stanza, he repeats his request that if only she will "live with [him]" all "these pleasures" will be hers.

Stanza Six

The Shepherds' Swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May-morning:

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me, and be my love.

In the final section of 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' the speaker describes how after she has accepted his offer the "Shepherds' Swains," or their comrades and lovers, will "dance and sing." All people will "delight" in the fact that they are finally together as they should be.

In the last two lines, he repeats, for the third time, his offer. He asks that if "these delights" move "thy mind" then she should come "live with [him], and be [his] love."

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The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe - Poem Analysis

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'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love' by Christopher Marlowe is a six stanza poem which is made up of sets of four lines, or quatrains. Each of these quatrains follows the consistent rhyming pattern of aabb ccdd... and so on. The poet has chosen to utilize this rhyming pattern in an effort to create a sing-song-like melody to the poem.

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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...

And here, we can see clearly where the Nymph stands: she will not be easily manipulated into believing that the lifestyle the Shepherd promises is possible. From her perception, she is logical, rational and insightful. From his, he is inconsiderate and child-like because he describes a fairytale of a life that he cannot provide.

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Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,
But as for me, hélas, I may no more.
The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,
I am of them that farthest cometh behind.
Yet may I by no means my wearied mind
Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore
Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,
Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.
Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,
As well as I may spend his time in vain.
And graven with diamonds in letters plain
There is written, her fair neck round about:
Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,
And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

In this poem, a man talks of how pursuing a woman is as difficult as hunting a deer he is unable to catch. He is fully aware of his defeat and expresses his concerns and frustrations of how mentally tiring it is to love. His judgement is shifted as he realizes that the woman he loves is a like a deer he cannot catch.

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As if that God made Creatures for Mans meat,

To give them Life, and Sense, for Man to eat;

Or else for Sport, or Recreations sake,

Destroy those Lifes that God saw good to make:

Making their Stomacks, Graves, which full they fill

With Murther’d Bodies, that in sport they kill.

Yet Man doth think himselfe so gentle, mild,

When he of Creatures is most cruell wild.

Perception plays an essential role in this text by Margaret Cavendish. It tells the story of a hare being hunted down by men, the hunters. From the perspective of the men, the hare is an animal meant to be hunted down whether it is for sport or meat. And in general, animals are creatures and large monsters meant to be killed to for protection. However, from the perspective of Cavendish, the real monsters are the men who hunt down creatures God created for a purpose other than to be a man's enjoyment and meat.

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Looke in this Mirrour of a worthy Mind,

Where some of your faire Virtues will appeare:

Though all it is impossible to find,

Vnlesse my Glasse were chrystall, or more cleare:

Which is dym steele, yet full of spotlesse truth,

And for one looke from your faire eyes it su’th.

Lanyer's perception of understanding how to built a platform for herself plays a key role in how she was able to gain fame. She utilized a targeted audience, women, and factors like mirrors to appeal to her desired audience. By building them up, she was able to reach and connect with them as a woman herself.

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"Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt [ 615 ]
The vertue of that Fruit, in thee first prov'd:
But say, where grows the Tree, from hence how far?
For many are the Trees of God that grow
In Paradise, and various, yet unknown"

In Paradise Lost, Satan, posed as the snake, was able to change Eve's perception of right and wrong and return, changed her entire stance. It takes a strong sense of judgement to deter from the manipulation that Satan used to shift Eve's awareness and judgement. Although Adam has a stronger sense of judgement, it is clear that the only reason why he followed into Eve's footsteps was because of love.

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"At the time I am writing it is five years since my last return to England; during the first year I could not endure my wife or children in my presence, the very smell of them was intolerable; much less could I suffer them to eat in the same room."

"The first money I laid out was to buy two young horses, which I keep in a good stable, and next to them the groom is my greatest favorite, for I feel my spirit revived by the smell he contracts in the stable. My horses understand me tolerably well; I converse with them at least four hours every day. They are strangers to bridle or saddle; they live in great amity with me and friendship to each other."

Gulliver's perception changes once he realizes that he has grown to admire the Houyhnhnms and their way of life,but cannot live within their civilization due to the fact that he was banished. He realizes that he can no longer stand to live like a human with his human wife and children. Instead of adjusting back to his old lifestyle, he buys horses to converse with and sadly, becomes more tolerable to them than his own family.

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https://owlcation.com/humanities/An-Analysis-of-The-Nymphs-Reply-to-the-Shepherd-by-Sir-Walter-Raleigh

This website gives an analysis of "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd." It starts by giving a description of the poetic structure and format, then an overview of the poem. After, it provides the exact poem. Following this, it then provides information on the usage of irony and mockery, which play large roles in the poem. The reason why I chose this website is because it provides multiple motifs to help me gain a deeper level of understanding. For example, motif #1 states that mortality and materialism are relevant to the poem because the nymph is fully aware of the "basis of a mortal life." Using her perception, she is able to find reason and logic past the shepherd's promises.

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Luke Holm earned bachelor's degrees in English and philosophy from NIU. He is a middle school teacher and a creative writer.
Poetic Structure

The poem The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd was written by Sir Walter Raleigh and is a response from a nymph rejecting a shepherd's love proposal. The poem is in iambic tetrameter. It comprises six four-lined stanzas or quatrains, where each iamb regularly alternates between stressed and unstressed syllables.

The emphatic rhythms focus on creating pauses to make the poem more rhetorically expressive. Additionally, Drummond notes that Raleigh end-stops his lines very sharply and provides strong caesuras, sometimes two in a line.

Overview

By expressing in imaginative detail the reasoning behind her rejections, stanza-by-stanza, the speaker within the poem, a young female nymph, responds to the shepherd's vision of their "happily-ever-after." The nymph, having superior rationality, coolly objects to the shepherd's offerings and explains that all he proposes is of the limited timeframe of a mortal being; his offerings will not last.

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.

The Nymph Mocks the Shepherd

The poem begins and ends her explanation in the subjunctive mood; this helps set up the rhetorical style of the poem as she contrasts the hypothetical vision of the shepherd to her own morally reflective understanding. The diction of the poem is alluring. In the initial lines of each stanza, the nymph initially seems to adhere to the shepherd's pastoral diction of a happy ending, but just as quickly as the beautiful imagery is laid out, she mockingly undermines his vision with a more literal view of how life is short and will soon be forgotten.

This sense of mockery is found in the end-rhyme of each line. In each instance, the words help portray what is to be considered within the context of the shepherd's humanistic vision of their life together. The words forgotten and rotten, which are taken from the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth lines, help focus the imagery in the poem. The nymph explains to the shepherd that any gift he may give, to win her heart, will soon grow old, break, and be forgotten. She alludes that a timeless creature such as herself sees things as they will someday become, "Had joys no date nor age no need, / Then these delights my mind might move" (22-23), and that any gift she receives is already rotten in her eyes because of her foreknowledge of the change it will eventually go through.

Irony in the Shepherd's Proposal

As the stanzas progress, the darker, innate meaning of the nymph's eternal message becomes less latent and can be manifested in the shepherd's mortal view of life. It quickly becomes apparent throughout the poem that the nymph is attempting to help the shepherd. While the shepherd can only focus on his love for the nymph, thinking only of the gifts that he will give her, she attempts to show him the irony of their discourse, relaying to him the mortality of his pastoral life. When this complexity is understood, there are four reoccurring motifs that arise within the nymph's explanation.

Motif #1: Mortality and Materialism

The first is the thematic approach of the entire poem itself. Behind the great insight of the timeless nymph, there is a structural understanding of life itself, something the shepherd is not utilizing in his conquest. She is wise because she understands the basis of a mortal life; this would be the understanding of her reason, and is portrayed in the entirety of the poem. Without reason, there can be no insight. Through reason, she approaches the reasoning of the shepherd, or lack thereof.

It seems the motive for this conversation is the shepherd's passion for the nymph; from reasoning comes passion, from passion, comes love. When the shepherd compares his love for the nymph with the life that he lives, he offers her gifts, for everything he knows as a mortal being is materialistic and temporary.

Giving a materialistic gift to the nymph would be folly. She tries to show this to the shepherd, explaining that his views of the future are not the same as hers; the syllogism of her rationality "attempts to subdue the diction of the golden pastoral that is the shepherd, and show him the real world" (Drummond 27). The real world that she attempts to show in her rejection of the shepherd predicates the fourth and final theme within the poem, the understanding of time. Through a better understanding of mortality, reasoning, love, and time, the nymph sets out to help the shepherd comprehend the foundation of her rejection, why a life together would not work.

Through the undying timeless beauty that is the nymph, it seems as though the shepherd has lost all consciousness of reasoning as he attempts to fabricate his love for her through gifts and mortal standards or ideals. From the beginning, it should have seemed to the shepherd that this relationship could have no avail, and that simple deductive reasoning would bring about a quick denouement. However, the shepherd indicates the human propensity for self-delusion as he falls to folly over the nymph's grace. The lack of reasoning is what creates this poem, and throughout the text, the nymph tries to revive reason within the shepherd.

Motif #2: Lack of Reasoning

The lack of human reasoning throughout time is alluded to within the last lines of the second-to-last stanza. The imagery refers to the creation story of man, showing mankind's initial lack of reasoning, and is displayed within the poem, "A honey tongue, a heart of gall, / Is fancy's spring, but sorrows fall" (11-12). The imagery produced here comes from the double meanings of the words "spring" and "fall."

"Spring" first alludes to the seasons, as does "fall." As they are juxtaposed together, there is a sense that in the spring months, life begins to grow and flourish, but during the fall season, life withers away, making ready for the death of life which is winter. On a further note, "spring" and "fall" becomes an emblem for human nature. The action of "spring" is "fancy," and it represents the base of mankind springing forth from creation, the source of all that is. Contrary to a beginning, the word "fall" is "sorrow[ful]" as it symbolizes the fall of mankind, as it ages and withers away making way for winter or death.

Several critics have analyzed the poem and have related it to the Bible's creation story. Brooke goes one step further and relates these lines to the creation story within the Bible. He states that before mankind fell, there was just "spring" or the beginning of life, with no death. In the beginning, there was still reasoning, for there was free will; free will will encompass reasoning because of the brain's natural ability to put value on right and wrong. He details that before the forbidden fruit was eaten, there was no awareness of death, but the "honey tongue" of Satan who had "a heart of gall" was too tempting for Adam to handle, so Adam disregarded reasoning and ate the fruit, which resulted in the eventual "fall" of man. Through this paradox, we are able to create a deeper relationship with the nymph as she attempts to reason with man and man's "heart of gall." The shepherd's "heart of gall" is blinded by his compassion for the "honey tongue." These results in what he believes to be love.

It always seems hardest to explain reason, when those who you are reasoning with have no sense to listen. As the nymph rejects the shepherd, she focuses on helping the shepherd realize that he is not in love with her, but in lust. The aspect of explaining his folly must be the most difficult task in her trilemma. If at first reasoning fails, surely the task of making someone realize their lust over love must prove to be much more difficult. In the line, "In truth in every shepherd's tongue" (2), the nymph coaxes the shepherd to listen, telling him to realize that his motives are true, yet are destined to fail. She compares his love to folly and says, "When rivers rage and rocks grow cold" (6), which alludes to the emotional ups and downs of human nature. When in love, in the beginning, it feels as though emotions surge, just as "rivers rage," but with "spring" and "fall," the season or emotion eventually comes to an end, and in comes the death of winter, making the "rocks grow cold."

Motif #3: Love vs. Lust

The battle between love and lust is also valued as a key aspect by many of the poem's critics. Forsythe states that in the lines, "And Philomel becometh dumb, / The rest complains of cares to come" (7-8), Raleigh paints an exquisite picture of true love versus the shepherd's lust. By saying these lines, the nymph clearly expresses that the shepherd's love for her is much like a momentary season and will soon pass out of existence, just as summer must one day turn to winter. The nymph uses the analogy of a love fated to die to refer to the shepherd's love as only a momentary feeling that will soon pass. With the passing of this feeling, the shepherd will come to realize what the nymph had been trying to tell him the entire time, and he will realize that all he had offered such as gifts and emotion eventually wither and fade.

A Glimmer of Hope, if Not for Mortality

The nymph first focuses the shepherd's emotions for her. She tells him that not even the deepest love between two beings can last, that young love grows old, and never stays young. The possibility an undying love is represented within the first line of the poem, "If all the world and love were young" (1). She states that neither her world, nor the world of the shepherd stays the same, and she determines that everything grows with age, just as love will grow and eventually die with the mortality of the human body. However, there is a twist at the end of the poem where the nymph speculates on impossibility. In the last stanza, the nymph shows signs of the first glimmer of positive hope:

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. (21-24)

The word "but" changes the entire poem. For the first time, we are given the thought of what the nymph would be like if she were mortal. Drummond notes that this sudden conversion within the poem by use of the word "but," "creates an unexpected stress on the poem, resulting in a force which we have been waiting for" (28). In this stanza, the nymph replies that if "youth last" and love never ended "love still breed," that there could be hope between her and the shepherd. The impossibility is speculated upon when the nymph says, "Had joys no date" or "age no need," then and only then could they be joined as one "to live with thee and be thy love." Due to the shepherd's mortality, this plausibly impossible ending helps erase some of the more morbid ideas that have been brought about through this poem. It helps show that even though all odds seem against certain something, there can still be a glimpse of hope left in the mind.

The nymph then proceeds to focus on the temporary items which are the shepherd's gifts to her. In the lines, "Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,- / In folly ripe, in season rotten" (15-16), the nymph reminds the shepherd that his gifts symbolize decay and the passing of time: they "soon break," they "soon wither," and they are "soon forgotten." The nymph explains the intentional fallacy that while "in folly" the gifts may seem "ripe," but to her, she sees the end of the "season" or life and in turn, the items seem "rotten." The concrete word "rotten" creates imagery that can be juxtaposed with many parts of the poem. It concludes the end to all things as they eventually will rot once the life has been taken from them.

Motif #4: Time

The emotion of life moves forward to the final thematic element of time. The understanding of time and how the nymph uses it in her argument is the most important issue within this poem. Through time, the nymph shows the exhausting energy of human nature, pointing out that there is a beginning which is followed by an end. From the moment Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, mankind was burdened with the knowledge of passing time and the realization of death. The nymph, who is an immortal being, as all nymphs are, too realizes this, but relays it differently to the shepherd. She sees gifts as they will soon become and love as it will someday fail; they will "fall" just as man will someday wither and "fall" to his death.

Sir Walter Raleigh

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, the nymph engages the ambiguous snafu throughout each line of the poem and replies to the shepherd with a multitude of images that help get her statements across. She implies that the shepherd lacks reasoning and that their circumstance was ultimately derived from the lack of reasoning. She alludes to the paradox of shepherd's love, stating that in reality he is not in love with her, but has been overwhelmed with an animal-like lust for her. Finally, she speaks of the effect of time within this trilemma.

In the nymph's eyes, anything that has mortality will eventually become "rotten," so she sees all that is placed in front of her as such. She sees the end of the shepherd and the end of his gifts; as they age along with the world, they head towards a common place, always changing from young to old. Listing the last of the shepherd's gifts, in the end of the poem, the nymph replies, "All these in me no means can move / To come to thee and be thy love" (19-20). When she replies, "in me no means can move," it seems to be the nymph's final rejection of the shepherd. She has become set in her mind and in her heart. She has not only convinced the shepherd of her rejection, but she has convinced herself as well. In the end, she once again yields to the onward progression of time, allowing all to grow old, to change, and to wither away just as it was meant to be.

Lecture: The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh

Bibliography

"Analysis on The Nyph." Mega Essays. 2008. Mega Essays LLC. 16 Oct. 2008

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An Analysis of "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh

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Luke Holm earned bachelor's degrees in English and philosophy from NIU. He is a middle school teacher and a creative writer. The poem The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd was written by Sir Walter Raleigh and is a response from a nymph rejecting a shepherd's love proposal. The poem is in iambic tetrameter.