“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd”

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Summary

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Themes

• 

  Time and Decay

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd”

• Lines 1-4

  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.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-8

  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.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-10

  The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
  To wayward winter reckoning yields,

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 11-12

  A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
  Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-16

  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.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 17-20

  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.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 21-24

  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.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Symbols

• 

  Flowers

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Metonymy

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Personification

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Move
• Thee
• Thy
• Drives
• Flocks
• Fold
• Philomel
• Becometh
• Dumb
• Cares
• Wanton
• Wayward
• Reckoning
• Yields
• Gall
• Fancy
• Cap
• Kirtle
• Posies
• Folly
• Reason
• Clasps
• Studs
• Means

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Speaker

“The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd”

More “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” Resources

• External Resources

  • Marlowe's Poem — The work that inspired the nymph's reply. 

  • Raleigh's Life Story — Learn more about the colorful life of Sir Walter Raleigh.

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading provided by Librivox. 

  • The School of Night — A short article about the writers group to which both Raleigh and Marlowe belonged.