Moiselle Rose C.

Asuncion 9-Amber
The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
BY S IR WA LT ER RA LEGH

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.
Moiselle Rose C. Asuncion
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Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer and writer who
established a colony near Roanoke Island, in present-day North
Carolina. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually
put to death for treason.

Synopsis
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, soldier and writer. At age 17, he fought with the
French Huguenots and later studied at Oxford. He became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth after
serving in her army in Ireland. He was knighted in 1585, and within two years became Captain
of the Queen's Guard. Between 1584 and 1589, he helped establish a colony near Roanoke Island
(present-day North Carolina), which he named Virginia. Accused of treason by King James I, Sir
Walter Raleigh was imprisoned and eventually put to death.

Early Life
Historians believe Walter Raleigh was born in 1552, or possibly 1554, and grew up in a
farmhouse near the village of East Budleigh in Devon. The youngest of five sons born to
Catherine Champermowne in two successive marriages, his father, Walter Raleigh, was his
mother’s second husband. Like young Walter, his relatives, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir
Humphry Gilbert were prominent during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Raised as a
devout Protestant, Raleigh’s family faced persecution under Queen Mary I, a Catholic, and as a
result, young Walter developed a life-long hatred of Roman Catholicism.

At the age of 17, Walter Raleigh left England for France to fight with the Huguenots (French
Protestants) in the Wars of Religion. In 1572, he attended Oriel College, Oxford, and studied law
at the Middle Temple law college. During this time, he began his life-long interest in writing
poetry. In 1578, Raleigh set out with his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert on a voyage to
North America to find the Northwest Passage. Never reaching its destination, the mission
degenerated into a privateering foray against Spanish shipping. His brash actions were not well
received by the Privy Council, the monarch’s advisors, and he was briefly imprisoned.

A Favorite of Queen Elizabeth I

Between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh fought in the service of Queen Elizabeth I in Ireland,
distinguishing himself with his ruthlessness at the siege of Smerwick and establishing English
and Scottish Protestants in Munster. Tall, handsome, and superbly self-confident, Raleigh rose
rapidly at Elizabeth I’s court, upon his return, and quickly became a favorite. She rewarded him
with a large estate in Ireland, monopolies, trade privileges, knighthood, and the right to colonize
North America. In 1586, he was appointed captain of the Queen’s Guard, his highest office at
court. Extravagant in his dress and conduct, the legend that he spread his expensive cloak over a
puddle for the Queen has never been documented, but many historians believe him capable of
such a gesture.

An early supporter of colonizing North America, Sir Walter Raleigh sought to establish a colony,
but the queen forbid him to leave her service. Between 1585 and 1588, he invested in a number
of expeditions across the Atlantic, attempting to establish a colony near Roanoke, on the coast of
what is now North Carolina, and name it “Virginia” in honor of the virgin queen, Elizabeth.
Delays, quarrels, disorganization, and hostile Indians forced some of the colonists to eventually
return to England. However, they brought with them potatoes and tobacco, two things unknown
in Europe at the time. A second voyage was sent in 1590, only to find no trace of the colony. The
settlement is now remembered as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke Island."

Fall from Grace

Sir Walter Raleigh forfeited Elizabeth's favor with his courtship of and subsequent marriage to
one of her maids-of-honor, Bessy Throckmorton, in 1592. The discovery threw the queen into a
jealous rage and the couple were briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London. Upon his release,
Raleigh hoped to recover his position with the queen and in 1594, led an unsuccessful expedition
to Guiana (now Venezuela) to search for “El Dorado”, the legendary land of gold. The
expedition produced a little gold, but subsequent forays to Cadiz and the Azores reinstated him
with the queen.

Later Life and Death

Sir Walter Raleigh’s aggressive actions toward the Spanish did not sit well with the pacifist King
James I, Elizabeth's successor. Raleigh’s enemies worked to taint his reputation with the new
king and he was soon charged with treason and condemned to death. However, the sentence was
commuted to imprisonment in the Tower in 1603. There Raleigh lived with his wife and servants
and wrote his History of the World in 1614. He was released in 1616 to search for gold in South
America. Against the king's approval, he invaded and pillaged Spanish territory, was forced to
return to England without booty, and was arrested on the orders of the king. His original death
sentence for treason was invoked, and he was executed at Westminster.
Moiselle Rose C. Asuncion
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Lines 1-2
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every Shepherd's tongue,

 Before we even get started, we're going to backtrack. We're going allthe way back to
Line 0, a.k.a. the title, a.k.a. "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd."
 The title is pretty important, but there is one supremely important thing that the title tells
us about this poem that you must know before you read any further, and that is the fact
that this poem was written as a response to a poem by Christopher Marlowe called "The
Passionate Shepherd to His Love," which is basically a love poem from a shepherd to
his… well, love. So there.

Lines 3-4
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.

 Thank goodness. Like all good "If" statements, the one offered in line 1 does, in fact,
have a "then" clause attached to it. In this case, ifeveryone in the world were young and
in love, and if love were some new, undiscovered feeling and if certain shepherds told
nothing but the truth, THEN the speaker might be convinced to live with someone and be
their love

Lines 5-6
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold,

 Stanza 2 looks like it might provide some answers, and it's not looking good for our
shepherd. But let's break it down a bit further.
 Although it isn't explicitly stated, the first line of stanza 2 essentially starts with a big, old
BUT: if lines 1 and 2, then maybe lines 3-4, BUT… the coming of winter drives sheep
away from the pasture and into the stables, rivers are occasionally violent and
destructive, and cold rocks don't make the best sitting places.
If you haven't read Marlowe's poem, you're probably a little bit confused as
to why sheep, rivers, and cold rocks just entered the picture. For a little
cross-referencing refresher

Lines 7-8
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complains of cares to come.

 The Marlowe/Ralegh parallels continue, but before we can really dig into them, we
should unpack the wording of these two lines.
 Philomel, or Philomela, is a character from Greek mythology who was turned into a bird.
Her name, however, has come to represent several things, including a) a nightingale and
b) a musical instrument kind of like a violin. When line 7 talks about Philomel becoming
dumb, it can mean that either the musical instrument ceases to play, or the nightingale is
no longer singing. This, folks, is both an allusion to Greek mythology, and a poetic
symbol that packs a lot of punch. So much punch, in fact, that we've dedicated a whole
segment to it in the "Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay" section—just for you! Go ahead and
check it out. We know you want to.
 Line 8 is another line with a potential double-meaning. It could mean that, when winter
comes, the "rest" of the people—meaning everyone who doesn't have their head up in
the clouds like Marlowe's shepherd—complain of the woes and hardships associated
with the coming season. It could also be a musical reference, however, to a "rest" or
pause in the playing of the philomel or the singing of the nightingale, a musical silence
that contrasts with the "melodious birds" we find in the second stanza of Marlowe's poem

Lines 9-10
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,
To wayward winter reckoning yields,

 As we approach stanza 3, we're beginning to see a trend in Ralegh's imagery. Whereas

Marlowe is totally focused on spring and all its beauty, Ralegh's poem chooses to focus
on the impermanence of that beauty, epitomized by the coming of winter.
 In lines 9 and 10, the nymph argues that spring's flowers fade, and wanton, or luxurious,
overly-fertile, fields will eventually wither up in the cold weather.

Lines 11-12
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

 Lines 11 and 12 might read more like some old proverb your grandmother uses ("a bird
in the hand is worth two in the bush" or "don't cry over spilt milk") than a piece of early
modern poetry, but that just might the precise effect that Ralegh is going for.
 Before we unpack the age-old wisdom, let's take these lines piece by piece, since the
wording is a little tricky.
Lines 13-14
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies

 Welcome to stanza 4, which starts by naming some objects, most of which are clothes
and other household items.
 This isn't just any old packing list, though. The clothing and other items mentioned
here—the gowns, shoes, beds of roses, hats, skirts, and posies—all appear in Marlowe's
poem.

Lines 15-16
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten:
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

 Ouch. Ralegh is officially dissing all of Marlowe's shepherd's plans, and basically saying
that his promises are worthless because those gowns, skirts, caps, and beds of roses
will become piles of smelly, rotten flowers. Whatever happened to, "it's the thought that
counts"?
 Line 15 is pretty self-explanatory, but line 16 is a bit more confusing. It helps if you know
that "folly" is another term for foolishness; so all the gifts offered up by the shepherd are
ripe in foolishness, but in reason and practicality, they come up sorely lacking

Lines 17-18
Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,
The Coral clasps and amber studs,

 In these lines, the nymph continues to reject the shepherd's gifts and promises. All of
these things are gifts promised to the addressed by the shepherd in the Marlowe poem.
Sounds like a pretty sweet offer to us!

Lines 19-20
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.

 But it looks like the nymph is not having it. Lines 19 and 20 really spell it out for the
shepherd: all the gifts mentioned earlier cannot convince me to come and live with you
 Once again, Ralegh's choice of wording raises intriguing questions. The word "means,"
for example, is defined as both a method by which something is brought about and also
as another word for money and financial resources. So what is the nymph really saying?
That the shepherd stirred her heart but not her pocket book? That she wants to come
but there's just no feasible way she can make it happen? Or is this just a plain
Lines 21-22
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,

 In what's likely the poetic twist of the sixteenth century, we encounter in the final stanza
of "The Nymph's Reply" a serious . "Sure, none of what you promise me is going to last,
but if they did last, and if we didn't have to worry about the real world…"
 This poem seemed so set on debunking the naive, spring-happy take on love and
romance held by Marlowe's shepherd, so why does our sober nymph seem to be
backtracking?
 Her caveat isn't a big one, and it sounds remarkably like something we heard back up in
stanza 1. Once again, eternal youth and young love enter the picture.

Lines 23-24
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.

 We get to line 23 and we can hardly believe it, but even in a world where youth lasts
forever and joys are never-ending, the nymph would only maybe be convinced to take
the shepherd's offer ("my mind might move"). Is this the harshest blow of them all?
 And what are the "delights" being referenced? It's natural to think the "delights" are the
shepherd's gifts mentioned above, but couldn't "delights" also refer to the eternal youth
and everlasting joys