Student Question
Are "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" sonnets? Why?
Quick answer:
"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" are not sonnets. They exceed fourteen lines and do not follow the typical rhyme schemes of Italian or English sonnets. The first is a pastoral poem depicting an idealized rural life, while the second is a parody, offering a female perspective that declines the shepherd's advances. Both poems differ in form and purpose from traditional sonnets.
No, both of these poems are not sonnets. First of all, both poems are more than fourteen lines long. Second of all, they do not follow the regular rhyme pattern of either Italian or English sonnets.
The Passinate Shepherd to his Love is a pastoral poem, which means relating to or being a literary or other artistic work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually in an idealized way. To sum this poem up, it's a shepherd who's looking for a lady love and using his surroundings as a way to entice her.
The other poem, The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd, is a parody. It mimics and responds from a female perspective the first poem. The narrator in the poem is refusing the shepherd's request.
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