The Passionate Shepherd

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” have many differences and similarities that can be found in their theme, structure, and tone.
One difference between the two poems is the theme. In “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” the author wants the reader, a woman, that they should make the most out of their life, and be careless about the future, which can be seen in the first and second line: “Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove.” However, that is not the case in “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” which is an answer to the first poem. In the viewpoint of the women, she says to the reader that nothing gold can stay, which is seen in the first and second line of the third stanza, “The flowers do fade, and wanton fields to wayward winter reckoning yields.” The significance of having two dissimilar themes is that one is convincing the reader to be his love by saying what they will do and what he will gift “A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;” The other poem counters his claims by using the theme as a way of
rejecting the Shepherd, “Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses, thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,” creating a connection between the two, as if it is a response to a letter.
One similarity between the two poems is their structure. Both poems have rhyming couplets and six stanzas with four lines each, which can be seen throughout the entirety of both poems. Having the same structure is significant as it creates a relationship between the two poems, mimicking the author of the original poem and is also in response to his proposal of marriage and being together. One example of proposal can be seen when the shepherd is talking about how many roses will be given “And I will make thee beds of Roses” which the response poem is rebutted with “The flowers do fade,” sticking to the structure of the initial poem as each paragraph and it’s subject matches with the other poem.
Another difference between the two poems is the tone.
“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” has an optimistic view about love and how it will last forever “The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing for thy delight each May-morning” while the other poem has a different viewpoint about love, a more pessimistic look, “But could youth last, and love still breed, had joys no date, nor age no need.” The significance of having a different tone is that it creates irony between the poem. The shepherd from the first poem expects the response to his romantic poem to be in agreement with being together as he bribed the reader with gifts “A belt of straw and Ivy buds,” but the actual outcome in the second poem is rather in denial of his love, as the woman views love as temporary just as the gifts, “All these in me no means can move to come to the and be thy
love.”
In conclusion, “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” have similarities such as their structure and also differences such as the theme and tone. They have the same structure overall, with the same amount of stanzas, lines, and rhyming couplets. While the first poem talks about living your life to your fullest, the other talks about everything beautiful comes to an end. Another difference is the tone, where the first is hopeful and innocence while the other is skeptic and pessimistic. These are all of the terms that provide similarities and differences between the two poems.