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  • Essay / Comparing Sir Walter Raleigh's Response of the Nymph to...

    Comparing Sir Walter Raleigh's Response of the Nymph to the Shepherd to Christopher Marlowe's “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Sir Walter Raleigh has wrote "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" in 1600 as a response to Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd for His Love" written in 1599. In "The Passionate Shepherd for His Love", the shepherd used double entenders and hidden sexual images in an attempt to trick the nymph into engaging in sexual acts with him The shepherd attempted to convince the Nymph that he would grant her the various gifts and pleasures he described, but in reality. her gifts only carried sexual meanings However, the Nymph was extremely intelligent and aware of the shepherd's hidden seductions. She was so intelligent that she hastily rejected the shepherd's proposal using the exact words the shepherd had used. in his request. The shepherd in Marlowe's poem used disguised sexual imagery in the hope that the nymph would be attracted to him. The Shepherd first offered the Nymph "... valleys, groves, hills and fields, / woods or steep mountain yields" ( ). He hopes that the Nymph will interpret the images as places he would like to take her, but in reality the shepherd was describing to the Nymph the different parts and curves of her body that he would like to explore. The Nymph responds to his offer by stating: “The flowers fade and the fields wither / winter yields are capricious” ( ). Which means things change and although the Shepherd has a sexually unbridled body, over time he will become stubborn and unwilling to continue sexual pleasures. As the poem continues, the shepherd offers the nymph “a girdle of straw and ivy buds” ( ). The belt and ...... middle of paper ...... moved you, so come live with me so we can continue doing these "pleasures". The Nymph replied: “If the truth were in the tongue of every shepherd/these pretty pleasures could move me” (2-3). She would be moved by what the shepherd said if he wanted more from her than just sex. By reading the works of Marlowe and Raleigh, it was determined that the shepherd only had sexual feelings for the nymph. The poems showed no acts of love, only the sexual desires felt by the shepherd and a strong feeling of rejection on the part of the nymph. The Nymph did an amazing job defending herself. The shepherd failed in his plan to deceive the nymph and ended up looking like a jerk. Works Cited: Marlowe, Christopher. “The passionate shepherd for his love.” From the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Sixth ed. New York: Norton, 1993.