Marlowe and Raleigh

Love The two poems written by Raleigh and Marlowe are interesting. Marlowe’s poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, basically propositions a woman to sleep with a man, where Raleigh’s, The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd, responds negatively. Marlowe’s poem is a Shepherd asking a nymph for favors. Raleigh responds, saying no. The two poems follow each other closely, and refer to the same subjects. The big difference in the poems …

…it may be, Marlowe’s poem really has no grounding in the real world. The contrast between the real world and Marlowe’s poem would be difficult to see if it weren’t for Raleigh’s poem. Rarely does a person read a poem and complain how far away from real life it is. The difference is startling. The two poems really do have two focuses-- one in reality and one in a fairy tale.