Perspectives

Literary perspectives

The poem “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh is written in the style of pastoral poetry. Pastoral poetry is a genre which depicts country life in an idealized manner. A famous example of the genre is the poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe. It is this poem which Raleigh addresses and contests in “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd”. 

Although belonging to the pastoral genre, the poem “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” subverts the original intention of pastoral poetry, which is to present both nature and love in an idyllic, unrealistic light. Instead, the speaker in Raleigh’s poem provides a cynical answer to the shepherd’s plea. Therefore, we can say that “The Nymph’s Reply to ...