The text is Sir Walter Raleigh's response to The Passionate Shepherd by Christopher Marlowe. The two poems are worlds apart in philosophical viewpoints. The Passionate Shepherd is all about promises, promises, and more promises of constant daily joys in the sharing of love, almost to the point of frenzy. In contrast, The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd is serene and philosophically realistic, yet it seems to yearn for the idealism of the shepherd’s promises. The music is written in both a lighthea...