The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Walter Raleigh (/ˈrɔːli, ˈræli, ˈrɑːli/; c. 1552 (or 1554) – 29 October 1618), also
spelled Ralegh,was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician,
courtier, spy and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-
brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in
England. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era.

Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh and
Catherine Champernowne. Little is known of his early life, though in his late teens he
spent some time in France taking part in the religious civil wars. In his 20s he took part
in the suppression of rebellion in Ireland participating in the Siege of Smerwick. Later,
he became a landlord of property confiscated from the native Irish. He rose rapidly in
the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585. Raleigh was instrumental in
the English colonisation of North America and was granted a royal patent to explore
Virginia, paving the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married
Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, without the Queen's
permission, for which he and his wife were sent to the Tower of London.

ABOUT THE POEM

1. Almost every class will have thoroughgoing pragmatists who dislike the romantic
idealism evident in much of the courtly love tradition.
2. Raleigh’s poem is very simple one that draws its structure stanza by stanza from
Marlowe’s. Although Marlowe’s poem is richly visual and very dynamic, Raleigh’s
poem has non of his dramatic movement: his nymph seems to stand and make a
speech. The various points he makes are unified only by their relationship to the
 earlier poem. She is, as a result,somewhat less persuasive. The shepherd might be
naïve, but she seems hopeless sour.
3. Nonetheless, she offers logical critique that Marlowe invites. Just as spring fades
into winter, she argues, so young love fades into “a heart of gall.” This is the
inevitable flaw in an argument that links love with youth, spring, or any
temporary perfection.
4. When she says “could youth last, and love still breed,” we are to understand that
just as youth cannot last, so love cannot perpetuate itself
5. Grant that the nymph is right, that love inevitably fades with age. If older people
cannot or do not love, then why not seize what love “is’ available while you are
young? How sensible is this nymph? Perhaps she is no more logical than the
shepherd.

TASK

Answer the following questions.

1. DO you think the girl has made an effective, strong response to the shepherd?
Why, or why not? Explain. 10 pts
2. How does the last stanza unify all the examples in the rest of the poem? Explain.
10 pts