The Passionate Shepherd To His Love And The Nymph's

Poets structure their literary work in different ways to create meaning. Meaning in literature is the significance of the work, and could also be the way one views the world; perspective. Structure is the rhythm of the poem, punctuation, patterns, the use of literary devices, etc. The structure of a poem helps create meaning through the use of those devices. Both Christopher Marlowe’s "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and Sir Walter Raleigh’s "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd” are structured similarly and differently through diction, figurative language, and voice to create different meanings. In the two poems, the diction is different in which the alliteration varies. In Marlowe’s "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" the Shepherd states that “Melodious birds sing Madrigals” (Marlowe 8). Marlowe uses soft sounding letters, such as ‘S’ and ‘L’, and alliterates them. This creates a calm and optimistic vibe, as well as makes the poem flow gently. Raleigh, however, uses rough alliteration with hard sounds, such as ‘R’ and ‘G’. With

In Marlowe’s poem, the Shepherd repeatedly states that he wants the Nymph to come and live with him. He tells her to “come live with me and be my love” (1) and then again he says to “live with me and my love” (Marlowe 24). This repetition gives the Shepherd a voice in the poem by expressing his wants. In Raleigh’s poem, the Nymph undermined everything that the Shepherd said by criticizing his words. For example, when the Shepherd says he has a “belt of straw and ivy buds, with coral clasps and amber studs” (Marlowe 17) the Nymph in Raleigh’s poem diminishes it. She claims that they will “soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, in folly ripe, in season rotten” (Raleigh 15). The Nymph’s voice is achieved through degrading what the Shepherd had to say and her perspective is clearly outlined by her negative