What Is Love Worth?

Margaret M. John-Potier

Professor Dr. C. Dugas

English 1020

21 March 2007

What Is Love Worth?

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe, and” The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh are two of the most perfect companion poems. Both poems are about shepherds, written in iambic quatrameter, consist of 24 lines and contain AABB rhyme scheme. By doing this the writers easily show that the poems belong together. A typical situation, in these modern times is the picture of a man and woman living together without marriage. Even more common than this is a man claiming his love and life for a woman then moving on after he becomes bored with her. This idea between man and woman hasn’t changed over the years. In these two poems it demonstrates a battle in questioning if the love is real or superficial, and also if it’s everlasting true love. The variations between these poems are found within the subject, tone using imagery and comparing the use of nature and love.

The subject matter of these poems varies among each other. “The Passionate Shepard to His Love” is about the speaker, a shepherd who promises everything he could to a woman so that she would love him and live with him. “Come live with me my love, and we will all the pleasures prove.” The Shepard is lonely and really needs a woman companion and he will give her anything. He attempts this by listing all the beautiful items that he will make for her. “A gown made of the finest wool, /… Fair lined slippers for the cold.”/ “And I will make thee beds of roses,” and “A cap of flowers, and akirtle.” This illustrate that he really loves this woman if he is willing to handcraft items for her to wear. Some of the things he promises would be very tedious to make like “A belt of straw and ivy-buds with coral clasps and amber studs” therefore these things should be appreciated greatly. Through all these pleasurable items the shepherd believes that he has succeeded in convincing his love to live with him. On the other hand, the speaker of “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” shows that she denies and refuses every single argument the shepherd states by expressing her opinion that all the pleasures he offered are not true. It’s taken further in context by comparing the seasons, for instance spring is the symbol of youth and winter is the symbol of old age and death, therefore this indicates that everything the shepherd promised will die. The author goes on to emphasize on the material values the shepherd offers. After listing all the gifts, she expressed her belief that they all will break, wither and be forgotten soon. It urges young women to be careful of smooth talkers. The difference is that the speaker is coming to realize early on that these are all words followed by broken promises of love and that the shepherd cannot possibly uphold to any of these gifts of pleasure.

The shepherd has a tone of yearning. The speaker of the poem desires the adoration of a loved one. Marlowe uses imagery to describe the scenery around the shepherd and

his love. The shepherd tries to convince her how happy they will be,

surrounded by “mountain yields” and “groves” in stanza one.

Marlowe does not only use imagery in his poem but he also describes

the aroma

‘And a thousand fragrant posies.’

He creates a tranquil atmosphere by describing the harmonious sound in

the second and third stanzas.

Throughout the poem the speaker talks of lavish gifts that he will give to his love using imagery to describe the rich color ,sound and even the smell, such as “… coral clasps and amber studs”, “… a thousand fragrant posies”, “ …Melodious birds sing madrigals..” The speaker’s offer of such lavish gifts, which he will most likely be unable to provide, conveys his yearning for his love. The nymph’s reply contains an undertone and reveals how her words convey her skepticism. She states in the stanza( )"youth last", to display her refusal. She also expresses her belief in love since at the beginning she says "If love were young", at the end she says "love still breed." She thinks what matter are not all the pleasures he provides but the real love and joys they may have together. Materials can't be the reason for their relationship because they are