Comparing Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" in 1600 to respond to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" written in 1599. In " The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", the Shepherd used double-entendres and hidden sexual images in an attempt to trick the Nymph into performing sexual intercourse with him. The Shepherd attempted to convince the Nymph that he would bestow her the various presents and pleasures that he described, but in reality his gifts only comprised of sexual meanings. However, the Nymph was exceedingly intelligent and conscious of the Shepherd's hidden seductions. She was so smart, that she hastily rejected the Shepherd's proposal by using the exact words that the Shepherd used in his request.
The Shepherd in Marlowe's poem used disguised sexual images in hope that the Nymph would be attracted to him. The Shepherd first offered the Nymph "...valleys, groves, hills, and fields, / woods, or steepy mountain yields" ( ). He hopes that the Nymph would interpret the images as places he would like to take her, but in actuality the Shepherd was describing to the Nymph the various parts and curves of her body which he would like to explore. The Nymph replies to his offer by stating "The flowers do fade, and wanton fields, / to wayward winter reckoning yields " ( ). Which means that things change and though the Shepherd has a sexually unrestrained body, that through time he will become headstrong and unwilling to continue the sexual pleasures.
As the poem continues, the Shepherd offers the Nymph "a belt of straw and ivy buds" ( ). The belt and ...
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... have moved you, then come live with me so that we may continue making these "pleasures". The Nymph replied with "If truth in every shepherd's tongue/ these pretty pleasures might me move" (2-3). She would be moved by what the Shepherd said if he wanted more from her than just a sexual relationship.
Through reading the works by Marlowe and Raleigh it's determined that the shepherd had only sexual feelings for the Nymph. The poems showed no acts of love, only sexual desires that the Shepherd was feeling and a strong sense of rejection from the Nymph. The Nymph did an extraordinary job of standing up for herself. The Shepherd failed in his plan to trick the Nymph and ended up looking like a jackass.
Works Cited:
Marlowe, Christopher. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." From The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth ed. New York: Norton, 1993.
This shows that Odysseus’ self-serving nature extends beyond material greed into the equally sinful realm of pride. In a classic display of hubris, Odysseus taunts the Cyclopes fulfilling the sole purpose of stroking Odysseus’s ego. At first it appears that our hero is lacking foresight, but Odysseus tells Polyphemus his name in hopes that tales of his cunning will spread throughout Greece: a very selfish goal, directly resulting in the endangerment of the lives of both him and his men throughout the remainder of their travels.
Comparing The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd. and the stark contrast of the treatment of an identical theme, that of love within the framework of pastoral life. I intend to look at each poem separately to give my interpretation of the poet's intentions and then discuss their techniques and how the chosen techniques affect the portal of an identical theme. The poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love appears to be about the Elizabethan courtly ideal of living with the barest necessities, like.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 33-37.
The curiosity between both Odysseus and Telemachus was displayed clearly throughout the epic. Odysseus is an intelligent man and lives by his wiles, along with his courage. Although he is self-disciplined, his curiosity sometimes gets the best of him. Because of his own curiousness and hubris, Odysseus has gotten himself into trouble, almost costing him his life on multiple occasions. It is this intellectual curiosity that drives him to hear the Sirens’ song, wait for the Cyclops to return, and journey to Circe. When Eurylochus returned from Circe’s home after she turned the other men into swine, he warned Odysseus of what had happened, but he said “Lead me back by the same way that you came” (238) and proceeded to go to the deceiving woman. Although Odysseus’ curiosity may find him in death’s ...
John Milton’s Paradise Lost is an epic poem that describes the fall of Satan and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Satan is the protagonist of Paradise Lost and has several characteristics in which readers may identify with him. Throughout the poem, Satan is not only a tragic hero but also the key character that drives the plot and portrays many flawed human qualities. As an angel fallen from the high esteem of God and a possessor of hubris that leads to his downfall, he represents a tragic hero but also a character in which readers may identify with.
The setting takes place late autumn in England during the Age of Chivalry. The ballad ...
Marlowe, Christopher Dr Faustus in ed. WB Worthen (1996) The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama, 2nd edn., Texas: Harcourt Brace
...d in the 1980s (Guiley). Spiritualism purported evidence of survival after death along with spirits performing cool paranormal activity. Its activity spread across America and developed deep roots in Great Britian as well. People back then, as they are today, succumbed to the mystery and power Spiritualism had to offer.
Wolfson, S. & Manning, P. 2003. The Longman Anthology of English Literature Vol 2: The Romantics and their Contemporaries. London: Longman.
more of a sense that it is the outside world which the problem, not themselves.
The. Marlowe, Christopher. The. Dr. Faustus. New York: Dover, 1994. Print.
The poem begins by describing the setting: night time, by a fire indoors. Then explaining that the colors of the fallen leaves and bushed nearby outside have changed color. This is visible to the person inside by the fireplace. From a deeper meaning, this may be explained by the way leaves and branches appear different as they are looked at while pulled upward or about in the wind. Here a different appearance is achieved before falling back into place as normal. From here a reference is made to the color of the large hemlocks. Their color is said to be striding, in other words walking, almost as if they are getting closer to the indoors. "Yes: but the color of the heavy hemlocks came striding." (Stevens 68) From here an image of a cry of peacocks is heard. Their cry is uncertain at this point, while much is left open for interpretation.
Thou know’st that this cannot be said. A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead’. (Lines 5 - 7). He then goes on to persuade her into considering it by describing the passion that they would encounter. He aims to arouse her sexually in hope that this conceit would have an effect on her.... ...
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th ed. New York: Longman, 1999. 33-37.
Marlowe, Christopher Dr Faustus in ed. WB Worthen The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama, 2nd edn., Texas: Harcourt Brace 1996.