Walter Raleigh writes of a nymph's reply to an eager shepherd's request. Through his stunning use of imagery and figurative language, Raleigh paints an exquisite picture of true love versus the shepherd' s lust.
In the poem the nymph compares the shepherd' s "love" in the second quatrain to just a momentary feeling, or even a crush, when she says ". . .and Philomel becometh dumb, the rest complains of cares to come." By saying this, the Nymph clearly states that the shepherd's love for her is much like a season and will soon pass out of existence just as summer must one day turn to winter. Sir Walter Raleigh also uses imagery when the Nymph speaks of the gifts that the shepherd can give her, in the fifth quatrain, she says to his offer ". . .Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, In folly ripe in season rotten." Again she tells the shepherd that there is no true love between them, for just as a flower flourishes during the summer, so might the shepherd' s love, but it will not last; as the flower perishes during the winter, so shall his love for her become bleak.
The nymph, however, does slow down to show the shepherd that there might be some hope for them when she says, in the last quatrain, "But could youth last and love still breed, has joy no date nor age no need". By speaking these words, the nymph indicates to the shepherd that if his love were never-ending, and age was not to effect her beauty or his love for her, "Then these delights my mind might move to come with thee and be thy love".
However figurative language is not the only tool used in Sir Walter Raleigh's poem to bring it to life, as it also uses imagery. When comparing the shepherd's love to folly in the second line of the second quatrain, the reader can see the river depicted by the Nymph, who replies, "when rivers rage and rocks grow cold." Sir Walter Raleigh paints an image of th...