The nymph's reply can be read as carrying a realistic, practical tone. The shepherd has painted an impossible scenario and the nymph is pointing out that she is aware of this: "flowers do fade..." and "Thy gowns, thy shoes...soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten..." She understands that love is more than the fleeting possessions one gives to another. She also understands the ways of the world, in that she isn't going to be duped into believing that new love stays the same; like the seasons, love changes (fades): "A honey tongue, a heart of gall/Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall." The nymph is right up front about not believing the promises that the shepherd offers when she says, "If all the world and love were young,/And truth in every shepherd's tongue..." she would live with him and be is love. Of course, she knows there is no truth in every shepherd's tongue, as she illustrates in the rest of the poem.