The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd Time Quotes

These lines are a great example of how the nymph takes specific images from "The Passionate Shepherd" and distorts them through the lens of time, thus removing their romantic appeal.

By implying the future tense (flowers [will] fade, fields [will] yield), the speaker grammatically reinforces her focus on the future as opposed to the present.

The proverb-like sound of these lines is meant to invoke proven, old wisdom. The lines reinforce in sound what they say with content: stick with what you know works, don't run off and try something foolish.

Flowers, it seems, unlike wine, don't get better with time. They get drier, and browner, and, well, dead-er.