Her Reply Poem by Sir Walter Raleigh

Her Reply

Rating: 3.0


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.

But Time drives 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.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Taylah Watson 29 May 2009

My poem goes like this It's called 'It's still loading' please load for me and my friends please load and load until the end please load quick and please load fast before my time has past please load, please load for me and my family please load please load before I send this

5 5 Reply
Ramesh T A 29 May 2010

He makes a clever proposition to be in love with his lady! It is all wonderful to read the description in small stanzas from the beginning to the end! Indeed a very nice poem to read!

5 3 Reply
Kevin Straw 29 May 2010

What an impressive figure Raleigh was: to write as well as this, and be a great warrior and courtier. How many modern day soldiers or sailors could turn out such polished art?

5 3 Reply
Thomas Farquhar 22 March 2012

This poem, if I remember my school days correctly, is in fact a response to another poets work and is intended to be tongue in cheek. Nonetheless, on its own it is an excellent piece of work.

4 4 Reply
R.j. Wynn 29 May 2013

Most would say I got lucky and let it go at that.

6 2 Reply
Chinedu Dike 23 January 2022

An insightful poem nicely embellished with poetic rhyme and rhythm. A beautiful work of art......

0 0 Reply
Eagle Swift 10 July 2017

Love the expression and language used to describe love.

0 0 Reply
Amar Agarwala 24 February 2017

Here's one wonderful poem - I love the title - and the verses are full of rhyme and rich with meaning. Needed to refer to a dictionary for a few words and found them enchanting.

0 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 24 February 2017

A beautifully envisioned thought provoking love poem. Thanks for sharing it here.

0 0 Reply
Tom Allport 24 February 2017

a loving poem of what it feels to be in love?

1 1 Reply
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