The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh

Full Text

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.

But time drives 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.

Overview

Raleigh answers Marlowe’s pastoral fantasy with realism, reminding us that time erodes both beauty and desire.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

The speaker concedes the appeal only in a world where youth and truth never fade.

Lines 5-12

Nature itself deteriorates, and human promises prove unreliable.

Lines 13-24

Material gifts decay; the speaker refuses the offer unless time can be suspended.

Themes

• Time
• Disillusionment
• Realism
• Love tested by change

Literary Devices

Allusion

Philomel — Refers to the myth of the nightingale and lost voice.

Antithesis

honey tongue... heart of gall — Contrasts sweet speech with bitter intent.

Historical Context

Written as a direct reply to Marlowe’s poem, it became a famous Renaissance debate on idealism versus realism.