When reading poems, we tend to look for deeper messages. Poetry sometimes tend to be ambiguous. Because it is a form or expression, we tend to seek the deeper meaning in order to try to understand the situation and feeling by what is being depicted by the writer. Poems such as “The Nymph’s Reply To The Shepherd” by Sir Walter Ralegh and “A Blessing” by James Wright seem to be two very different poems at first glance. However, after taking a closer look, a reader may notice a few similarities between the two poems. While “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” and “A Blessing” are two poems that seem very different, a reader may be able to draw similarities between the two poems because they are based on interpersonal relationships and both poems center around people that are attempting to find happiness by moving on from difficult situations and achieving emotional growth from these obstacles. “The Nymph’s Reply to The Shepherd” is based upon a breakup scenario. A woman is trying to end a relationship with a man because she no longer feels the same emotional attachment towards him. She uses age, maturity, and time as her reasons to justify her actions. When Walter Ralegh says “Time drives the flocks from field to fold” (735) he is explaining, in the female lover’s point of view, that her feelings have changed over time. She is no longer happy with her present lover. Like “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepard,” “A Blessing” is a poem centered on moving on to find happiness. Much like “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepard,” “A Blessing” is bittersweet because the subject of the poem is about attempting to move on from a difficult and possibly painful situation. In “A Blessing,” two people find two ponies in a pasture and go out to see them. This poem is symbolic of two children that are being adopted. When James Wright says, “We step over the barbed wire into the pasture” (742) he is implying that the children in the poem are leaving behind a bad situation for a better place. Even though the two poems come from very different points of view, the woman in “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” is similar to the children in “A Blessing” because both parties wish to move on and find happiness. In “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd,” Sir Walter Ralegh shows emotional growth from dealing with difficult situations. Sir Walter Ralegh writes, All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love. (736)
This line in the poem is in reference to all of the shepherd’s materialistic items that he has offered and promised to her for her love in return. The nymph rejected the shepherd’s gowns, shoes, beds of roses, caps, and poems. All of these materialistic items cannot sway her to come and live with him. She wants to focus on the more mature factors in her relationship and her life. The nymph’s ability to look beyond materialism and focus on the more mature needs and desires is a sign of emotional growth. In “A Blessing,” James Wright also does a really good job
