Optimisum Vs Reality
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Optimism vs. Reality
The poems I am comparing are "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe and "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh. In the first poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" the speaker is a shepherd who is trying to persuade his love to be his wife by promising her eternal bliss. On the other hand, in the second poem "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" the speaker is the Nymph (Shepherd's love) who is responding to the proposal made by the shepherd. She contrasts the theoretical world presented by the shepherd with reality. These two poems are very similar in the fact that they share common structural divisions and language however; their attitudes and perspectives on life differ greatly.
Marlowe and Raleigh's poems both share common structural divisions and language. The structural divisions of each poem are written in six four-line stanzas and each stanza is made up of two rhymed couplets. In addition to their structure, these poems have an identical rhyme scheme (aabb ccdd eeff gghh iiaa jjaa) and both of the poems predominant meter is iambic tetrameter. Theses two poems also share a common language...