The
Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd
by Sir
Walter Ralegh
|
| If all the world and love were
young, |
| And truth in every shepherd's
tongue, |
| These pretty pleasures might me
move |
To live with thee and be thy
love.
|
| Time drives the flocks from field
to fold, |
| When rivers rage and rocks grow
cold, |
| And Philomel becometh dumb; |
The rest complains of cares to
come.
|
| The flowers do fade, and wanton
fields |
| To wayward winter reckoning
yields; |
| A honey tongue, a heart of gall, |
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's
fall.
|
| Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of
roses, |
| Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy
posies |
| Soon break, soon wither, soon
forgotten, |
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
|
| Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, |
| Thy coral clasps and amber studs, |
| All these in me no means can move |
To come to thee and be thy love.
|
| But could youth last and love
still breed, |
| Had joys no date nor age no need, |
| Then these delights my mind might
move |
To live with thee and be thy
love.
|
| Sir Walter Ralegh |
Classic
Poems |
| |
|
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