The poem discusses the fleeting nature of beauty and love found in nature. The nymph rejects the shepherd's love and gifts because she recognizes that the pleasures of the natural world are temporary. Spring and youth do not last, as shown by imagery of fading flowers, withering fields yielding to winter, and decaying gowns and garments. While love and delight in nature might move her now, their beauty will not endure. If youth and love could last forever without growing old or needing fulfillment, then she might feel differently.

1. The Nymph’s
Reply
To The
Shepherd
By: Sir Walter Raleigh

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. The flowers do
fade, and wanton
fields
To wayward winter
reckoning yields;
A honey tongue, a
heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring,

5. 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

6. Thy belt of straw
and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and
amber studs,
All these in me no
means can move
To come to thee and
be thy love.

7. 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.

8. The poem
discusses the
reality of the
shepherd’s
situation.

9. Pastoral
REALity is the
PRIORITY
Poem

10. Work in Not
pairseverything in
and
look for lines
nature is
in the poem
perfect
that shows
this

11. “rocks grow
cold” (6)

12. “The flowers do
fade, and wanton
fields
To wayward winter
reckoning yields” (910)

13. “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.”
(13-16)

14. Nymph reverses his images
into negative ones
…that
hills and
valleys,
dale and
field…
fields
yield to
the
harvest

15. Nymph reverses his images
into negative ones
…sit
upon
the
rocks
rocks
grow
cold

16. Nymph reverses his images
into negative ones
And see
the
shepherds
feed their
flocks,
Flocks
are
driven to
fold in
winter

17. Nymph reverses his images
into negative ones
By
shallow
rivers, to
whose
falls
Rivers
rage

18. Nymph reverses his images
into negative ones
Melodious
birds sing
madrigals.
Birds
complain
of winter

19. Carpe diem:
Seize the day!

20. Tempus fugit:
Time flies.

21. Setting
takes place in a
realistic landscape

22. Imagery
Visual imagery
dominates the
poem particularly
that of nature

23. Figures of Speech
Task:
Identify the figures
of speech found in
the poem.

24. King
Tereus, Pro
cne’s
husband, ag
reed to
accompany
Philomela
to Athens
Tereus
raped
Philomela
and cut out
her tongue
Philomela
wove a
tapestry
(or a robe)
that told
her story

25. Philomela
sent the
robe to
Procne
Procne
killed her
son Itys
and served
it to
Tereus
Tereus
wanted to
kill them
but the
gods
turned
them into
birds

26. Figures honey
of Speech
A
tongue, a heart
of gall,
Is fancy's
spring, but
sorrow's fall.
Metaphor
(stanza 3, lines 3-

27. Tone and Mood
if suggests thatthe
the
First word in
shepherd’s promises
poem is
are only transitory
“if”

28. SOUND DEVICES
Task:
Identify the sound
devices found in the
poem.