Compare "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love" to "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" and show how Ralegh's poem is poetry of Marlowes.

        In the second verse of the shepherd’s poem, Marlowe uses a form of alliteration, “we will sit upon the rocks”, to show how positive he is that this will happen. He also uses “rocks” as this shows the calmness of the scene and it sounds all relaxed and cosy. In the second line, he uses the repetition of ‘s’ and ‘f’, “seeing the shepherd’s feed their flocks” to show a romantic calm scene. He then continues to say, “By shallow rivers to whose falls”. The shepherd deliberately uses the word ‘shallow’ as it shows the water is not deep and so not dangerous. The last line of the second verse is, “Melodious birds sing madrigals”, and this is a very dreamy and romantic line. “Melodious” is softly onomatopoeic while “Madrigals” is a love song and this adds a more dreamy sense to the whole poem, giving an image of all the birds singing in harmony to the accompaniment of the waterfall. The birds are singing just for the shepherd and the nymph.

        Meanwhile in the second verse the Nymph bluntly says in the first line, “But Time drives flocks from field to fold”, here she is explaining that time passes and sheep grow old. She also uses ‘But’ as it is negative to what the shepherd has just said showing that he is wrong and nothing lasts forever. The feeling of time changing the environment is also reused, like in the first line of the first verse, by showing that in time people drive the sheep from the open fields to being killed in pens. The Nymph implies that it is mankind that is killing them. The use of alliteration on the first line, “field to fold”, emphasises this driving movement. The Nymph again uses another form of alliteration, “rage and rocks…”, as she explains that over time the rivers will become full and dangerous. There is a form of onomatopoeia here with ‘rage’, which sounds short, sharp and scary. The next line, “And Philomel becometh dumb”, has the use of Philomel as the classic name for a nightingale and Ralegh has deliberately used it as an example as it is the most tuneful songbird. The nymph frankly explains that it will die like all the other birds will. Ralegh then explains that life cannot be perfect, with birds singing in harmony. He uses the word, ‘dumb’ as this may be linked to a tongue being cut off as in the myth of Philomel, as he could have used silent instead, ‘Dumb’ implies total silence, and that it hasn’t gone quiet as if they can speak again, but their voices are gone forever. Ralegh uses repetition for effect in, “the rest complains…” as the rest of the birds, compared to the nightingale sound awful and he uses the repetition of the ‘c’ as it sounds unpleasant compared to the harmony and so he deliberately manipulates the words and destroys the shepherd’s image of a perfect life.

        Inverse three of the shepherd’s poem, the shepherd gets more practical. He makes out that the young lady is worth all this trouble. Marlowe deliberately uses, “beds of roses”, as it is romantically linked with love and is very highly symbolic. It shows the extravagance of what he is going to do for the nymph. “And” is used as it makes the lady feel she is worth all this trouble. He also uses “A cap of flowers”, as this is a fashionable head covering. He begins to think she needs to be fashionable and everyone copied the Queen, as she was the icon. “Kirtle” is an archaic word and it means the top most petticoat. This will also be made by the shepherd. He also uses, “myrtle”, as it describes leaves, which will last for longer and will be deep green, glossy leaves. The fashion was for embroidered skirts and he knew she would like this, but all her fashions will avoid the cost of artifice if the court.

        The Nymph has a direct response to the roses by saying, “The flowers do fade”, explaining that the roses will not look good forever. She is also implying that the love will die, like the roses and there is a sense of sarcasm in this verse. Ralegh uses “And wanton fields, to wayward winter reckoning yields”, the word  “wayward” is used as it shows the disobedience of the fields. The Nymph explains that the shepherd cannot giver her flowers all the time like he says, as the seasons change and in winter the roses are not in bloom. She explains that the fields are irresponsible and the winter, disobedient and together they make the flowers die.

        In the fourth verse, the shepherd uses, “finest-wool”, as it is the best and you cannot get any better and he would get it for her as she is worth all this. He also uses “wool” as it links with the shepherd theme and is not a man-made process and it is plentiful and warm and wool is seen as the simplest material, a contrast to satin and velvets worn in court. The shepherd also deliberately uses “pretty lambs”, as he is explaining to the nymph that even the lambs are perfect and he is trying to create an image of health and energy. He also talks about the lambs wool being pulled off, “pretty lambs we pull;”, as this means that the lambs are letting their wool be gently pulled off them and there in no violence form mankind involved. Marlowe mentions “Far-lined slippers…”, as slippers in that time were fashionable and Marlowe has to use an extra beat in ‘lined’ so when it is pronounced it fits in with the smooth rhythm. On the last line of the fourth verse the shepherd speaks to the nymph of “buckles of the purest gold”, as gold is very precious and normally associated with goddesses.

        The Nymph explains meanwhile, that all these gifts that the shepherd is promising her are his idea of the perfect gifts and that what he is telling her does not mean anything special to the nymph. We can also see the repetition of the word ‘thy’ throughout the fourth verse. Ralegh deliberately uses the word “soon” on the third line as it is making a point that time passes and nothing is forever. By saying this the nymph is implying that love will not last forever. In the last line of the fourth verse, the nymph uses, “In folly ripe, in reason rotten”. “folly ripe”, means that she thinks something silly will happen and spoil their relationship together. The nymph is being a realist when she says, “…in reason rotten”, as even fruit goes rotten that doesn’t last forever either and that too will be spoilt.

        Meanwhile the shepherd is explaining about straw. He uses ‘straw’ as the belt he is going to make for her will be long, plyable and have a pleasant colour. Marlowe uses “coral clasp” as we can hear the shutting motion in his use of words. He uses a hard ‘c’ sound and is almost like a ‘k’. He then explains the lady is going to look as good as any court lady, but everything is natural. In line three he speaks of all the pleasures. He uses a repetition on the ‘m’ in “may thee move” as it sounds softer and more romantic. The last line repeats the first line of the first verse and links it again with the theme of love and gentle persuasion.

        The nymph’s reply to the shepherd is quite direct. She keeps repeating ‘thy’ as she is explaining of how the shepherd offered her them and she is not accepting the gifts. She also uses a repetition of the ‘m’ as she is referring back to the shepherd’s words in a negative fashion.

        In verse six of the shepherd’s poem, Marlowe uses the figure of “shepherds” again, to show the perfect countryman. There is also a form of alliteration by using, “Shepherds swains” to emphasise the young lovers and romance. At the end of the first line, there is an enjambment so the line flows into the next line imitating continual dancing and singing. Marlowe deliberately uses ‘May’, as it is the perfect month where it is not too hot or too cold and it is the month of love and festivals. The shepherd speaks of ‘may morning’, as when the sun rises you are meant to make a wish and this is really romantic and adds a sense of softness to the shepherd’s tone. In the third line, there us a repetition of ‘delights’ for effect and there is also a repetition of “mind may move”, as this gives a more persuasive effect. At the beginning of the last line, the shepherd uses the word ‘then’, as it softens everything he has just said and is a last plea for her to accept his offer. The shepherd could have used ‘come’ instead but this sounds too forceful, like at the beginning.

        In the nymph’s last verse, I feel that she is softening and realises that she actually wants to live with the shepherd and have all the things he is promising her but she realises life cannot be like that. She explains in her last verse that if only they could both be young for ever and that love got stronger and happiness lasted then she might live with him. There is a sense of regret in this verse but she is gently sarcastic too, by imitating the shepherd’s use of alliteration and his last line.

        From studying both these poems, it is clear that throughout there is a sense of love, but one person is showing their feelings, the shepherd, and the other is showing how the effect of time changes everything, the nymph. It is clear that the nymph’s poem is a parody and twists phrases from the original poem.