Andres Orozco
AP English Literature
October 24, 2014
Mr. Panzer
Eternal Love Games between Men and Women Marlowe, Raleigh, and Donne, through their poetry, tackle the primal essence of romance — love and lust. Marlowe begins the exchange by offering the viewpoint of the Man, the Shepard. Marlowe writes a pastoral poem, where everything is idealized and perfect. The shortsightedness of the Shepard suggests that he may not be interested in the Nymph for an extended period of time. Sir Walter Raleigh provides a rebuttal from the Nymph’s perspective, while John Donne suggests that not loving at all is the wisest choice. All three poems provide different aspects of romance to describe the eternal love games; though each poem is a response to another, they differ greatly in their message. While the Shepard suggests to live an Edenic lifestyle with the nymph, he does not take into account that the world will change. He does not take into account that the rocks will grow cold, the roses will wither, and that days will pass and it will no longer be May. Sir Walter Raleigh uses this “short sightedness” to discuss the nymphs view of the situation. The nymph’s rebuttal is a rejection. She understands the Shepard’s “game” and does not fall for it. The Shepard is not heavily invested in this attempt at “love” and the nymph realizes that. The Shepard’s attempt to fulfill his lust with the nymph ultimately does not work because she sees right through his unfulfillable promises. John Donne takes an unconventional approach, a metaphysical approach to the romantic aspects of the “love games”. Donne succeeds here in creating a love(or anti-love) poem that does not rely on passion nor