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Poetry Classroom: Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd

By Karen Swallow Prior 18 Comments

Welcome to this month’s poetry classroom, with author and literature professor Karen Swallow Prior. Karen specializes in classics and will be treating us to a discussion of classic love poetry. We invite you to respond to the poems—their forms, images, sounds, meanings, surprises—ask questions of Karen and each other, and write your own poems along the way.

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Raleigh’s poem is a response to Christopher Marlowe’s exhortation to “seize the day” (a phrase which can be understood both literally and, ahem, euphemistically) in his pastoral poem, The Passionate Shepherd to his Love. Here, Raleigh addresses the lover of the previous poem through the imagined response of the young lady, or nymph.

Imagine the speaker of this poem to be a beautiful young woman whose external charms would tempt the most charming lover—but whose wit far outdoes him (and add to that wit a bit of sass, too). Point by point, using the same structure, imagery, and rhymes, the nymph archly puts the shepherd’s promises to the test. And all that he offers her—the flowers, the buds, the posies, the birds, the fields, the shepherd’s tongue—fail.

Notice, too, that as the nymph delivers her answer, her playful tone of knowing superiority (arising from a cynical, or perhaps realistic, view of the lover’s motives and intent) slowly evolves into a lament over the inevitability of the passage of time—and with it youth, and love, and life.

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,
Thy 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 (1600)

Photo by Karo, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me.

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Karen Swallow Prior
Karen Swallow Prior
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist, and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books . Her writing has appeared at The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Vox.
Karen Swallow Prior
Latest posts by Karen Swallow Prior (see all)
  • Have We Outlived Epic Poetry? Maybe, But Herrera to Rowling Say No - September 25, 2015
  • About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright - August 29, 2014
  • Poetry Classroom: A Valediction—Forbidding Mourning - February 27, 2013

Filed Under: Blog, Classic Poetry, love poems, love poetry, Poems, poetry, Poetry Classroom, poetry teaching resources

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About Karen Swallow Prior

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph. D., is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist, and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books . Her writing has appeared at The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Vox.

Comments

  1. L. L. Barkat says

    February 20, 2013 at 7:39 pm

    I find it amusing that Raleigh wrote back to Marlowe. Tell me more about this? Were they rivals in the poetry world?

    Reply
  2. Karen Swallow Prior says

    February 20, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    Dueling poems are fairly common in the world of traditional poetry. (Some of the poetry wars of the 18th century get really intense!). Though both Raleigh and Marlowe were among many currying favor from Queen Elizabeth, as far as I know, they were not political enemies. In fact, both fell out of favor and were ultimately accused of atheism (a serious charge in those days). Even some 20th century poets have jumped into the fray and offered their responses, too. I’ll see if I can post my favorite one here.

    Reply
    • Karen Swallow Prior says

      February 20, 2013 at 7:53 pm

      “Come live with me and be my love
      And we will all the pleasures prove
      Of a marriage conducted with economy
      In the Twentieth Century Anno Donomy.
      We’ll live in a dear little walk-up flat
      With practically room to swing a cat
      And a potted cactus to give it hauteur
      And a bathtub equipped with dark brown water.
      We’ll eat, without undue discouragement,
      Foods low in cost but high in nouragement
      And quaff with pleasure, while chatting wittily,
      The peculiar wine of Little Italy.
      We’ll remind each other it’s smart to be thrifty
      And buy our clothes for something-fifty.
      We’ll bus for miles on holidays
      For seas at depressing matinees,
      And every Sunday we’ll have a lark
      And take a walk in Central Park.
      And one of these days not too remote
      You’ll probably up and cut my throat.”

      ― Ogden Nash, Hard Lines

      Reply
      • Donna says

        February 22, 2013 at 2:51 pm

        Whoa… I didn’t see THAT coming! LOL! Something is niggling at me about how the lack of this cyber technology had something to do with these wars you mention that I am looking forward to reading. It seems that social networking, though it has so many wonderful possibilities, encourages fast quips and quick “submitting”…. and not this process of crafting a work, getting it published, waiting (no instant POD companies) and wondering if those who see it are the ones you most want to notice…. No @ button. No ‘submit now’ button. No ‘share this’ button. Interesting to think about, and wondering about how the internet shifts the whole process around… maybe. Patience… is it injured by the immediacy with which we do things? I don’t know. Wondering. Excitement and enthusiasm can be fueled by the same, so it’s a question about balance I think. But Karen… I digress. Thank you for pointing us toward the poetry wars! This is a battle I will enjoy exploring! 🙂

        Reply
  3. L. L. Barkat says

    February 22, 2013 at 11:03 am

    Oh, my, Ogden!

    Poetry wars. The mere thought 🙂

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth W. Marshall says

    February 22, 2013 at 11:22 am

    Oh the dark side of Ogden Nash. And all this time I thought him to be a harmless humorist. Surprise surprise. Poetry as a form of weaponry. .. A new twist.

    Reply
  5. Karen Swallow Prior says

    February 22, 2013 at 11:25 am

    This is my all-time favorite poetry war. Be patient and take the time to read both. It’s well worth it:

    http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/mcbride/theory/ws539dressrm.htm

    Reply
    • Hampgal says

      February 23, 2013 at 11:14 am

      Ribald & hilarious! I vote for Lady M as winner of the skirmish…she pricked his weak spot.

      Puppy water? Distilled?! Yikes.

      I wonder, what was the public response to these poems? Were they published in a newspaper or magazine?

      Reply
    • Donna says

      February 24, 2013 at 6:14 am

      HA! Love it! Kind of gives me a whole new appreciation for modern hygiene conveniences! I agree with Hampgal – victory goes to the Lady! 🙂

      Reply
      • Karen Swallow Prior says

        February 27, 2013 at 9:12 am

        To the Lady is declared the victory, then!

        Reply
  6. Charity Singleton Craig says

    February 22, 2013 at 2:17 pm

    Poetry Wars sounds like a reality TV show! I love that poets have always responded to their lives, their worlds, their rivals by writing poetry. Somehow, most of us have the impression that poetry and literature are far removed from the every day. Not here. Not really. This was a wonderful reminder today.

    Now, if we only knew someone who could get that new reality TV show “Poetry Wars” off the ground . . . hmmmm, maybe?

    Reply
    • Karen Swallow Prior says

      February 22, 2013 at 6:21 pm

      Poetry Wars Reality Television. Let’s do it! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Karen Swallow Prior says

    March 8, 2013 at 9:36 am

    The wonderful discussion here inspired this latest post of mine at The Atlantic. Thank you, all!

    http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/03/before-we-saw-your-boobs-the-sexism-and-satire-war-from-1732/273820/

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton Craig says

      March 9, 2013 at 5:42 pm

      Love this, Karen!

      Reply
      • Karen Swallow Prior says

        March 9, 2013 at 10:13 pm

        🙂

        Reply
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    March 23, 2013 at 10:43 am

    GScraper it is one new black hat SEO software, the best scraper and poster for link building, If you have never used that, you real cannot imagine that the scrape and POST can crazy to what extent! google22222222222 http://www.google.co

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Trackbacks

  1. Poets & Writers Toolkit: Read and Respond | Tweetspeak PoetryTweetspeak Poetry says:
    May 22, 2013 at 8:01 am

    […] Heck, even poets use read and response from time to time, taking poetry to the frontlines of social discussion by reading others’ works and responding in verse, as Karen Swallow Prior showed us in her recent “Poetry Classroom: Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd.” […]

    Reply
  2. This Month's Top Ten Poetic Picks | says:
    March 13, 2014 at 8:01 am

    […] We might get a little rambunctious sometimes and issue a poetry dare (and we’ve even explored poetry duels), but we will not countenance a literary fight to the death unless it takes place in the pages of a […]

    Reply

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