32 Kiara S.

Quintana
9 St. Lioba

11/27/15
Parodies

Legend for Poetry Explication

The Passionate Shepherd to

His Love

The Nymphs Reply to the

Shepherd

BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOW E

BY SIR WALTER RALEGH

Come live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove,
That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

If all the world and love were young,

And truth in every Shepherds tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move,
To live with thee, and be thy love.

And we will sit upon the Rocks,

Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow Rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

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.

And I will make thee beds of Roses

And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields,

To wayward winter reckoning yields,
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancys spring, but sorrows fall.

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

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.

A belt of straw and Ivy buds,

With Coral clasps and Amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

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.

The Shepherds Swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my 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.

Thesis:

The original text is all about courtship. The poem opens with the line, come live with me and be my love,
which suggests that the entire text will be about someone proving his love to another. In the second stanza,
with the words sit upon the rocks, seeing shepherds feed their flocks, by shallow rivers, and melodious
birds, it is clear that the speaker is promising serenity to his love. The next three stanzas are also full of
promises. The speaker promises to shower her with gifts: bouquets of roses, dresses, shoes, and a belt of
flowers.

The lines 19 and 20 states that if she likes all these things, then she is accepting his love, and in lines 21 and

x acceptance will make

Shepherd
Nymph
22, he says that her
him happy. Finally, the shepherdx says in the last two lines that
if she
bouquets
isAnd
swayed
by all hisfragrant
promises, then she
should accept hisThe
love.flowers do fade, and wanton
a thousand
posies,

fields,

The nymph argue

that flowers fade

The nymph rejects the shepherds love. The speaker says in the first stanza that if everyone is
nave
and
theand
fertile fie

A cap ofand
flowers,
a kirtle promises are true, then she
To wayward
winteraccepting
reckoning
innocent
all theand
shepherds
might consider
his love. The nymph

eventually wither

Embroidered
all with leaves
of of serenity. She saysyields,
contradicts
the shepherds
promise
that everything is temporary, with her mention of
in winter.

time,
and that love can turn cold, as said in line 6. ("Rivers rage and rocks grow cold"). In the third stanza, she
Myrtle;

Choosing tempor

continues to call his bluff, saying that flowers fade and fields wither in the winter. Lines 11 and 12 states that

pleasures over lo
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
term ones will on
fancy which means a feeling of liking or attraction, typically one that is superficial or transient. She believes
Is fancys spring, but sorrows fall. lead to sorrow.
that his love for her is only fleeting or temporary and his gifts will eventually break and be forgotten, as said in
the fourth stanza. It is in the fifth stanza when the speaker officially rejects the shepherd. But, she says in the
dress
A gown made of the finest
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of The shepherds gi
last stanza, if everything he will give her, from his promises to his love, will remain forever, then she might
are worthless sinc
wool accepting his love.
Roses,
consider
dresses, shoes, an
Which from our pretty Lambs
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
flowers will soon
we pull;
Soon break, soon wither, soon
break and be
shoes
forgotten:
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
forgotten.
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
With buckles of the purest
`
gold;
the shepherds sweet words and bold proclamations will only lead to his sorrow. The speaker uses the word

A belt of straw and Ivy buds,

belt of flowers

Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds,

With Coral clasps and Amber

The Coral clasps and amber

studs:

studs,

And if these pleasures may

thee move,
Come live with me, and be my
love.

The Shepherds Swains shall

dance and sing
For thy delight each May-

If the nymph
likes all these
things, then she
accepts his love.

move,
Then live with me, and be my
love.

move
To come to thee and be thy love.

The nymph reject

the shepherd. She

saying that all the

things do not
convince her to

This will make

the shepherd
happy.

morning:
If these delights thy mind may

All these in me no means can

belt of flowers

But could youth last, and love still

breed,

accept his love.

But if all these thi

could last forever

Had joys no date, nor age no

need,

Help her decide

to accept his
love

Then these delights my mind

might move
To live with thee, and be thy love.

then she might

consider acceptin
his love