Identify and explain some of the basic premises of carpe diem poetry, then discuss how Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply" answers these premises. Your answer should be at least 150 words.

Carpe Diem common meaning is "seize the day", which means that you must enjoy the day and maximize every moment as if it were the last. The idea is to have a productive well-lived day.

The phrase is in Latin, and was termed by the Roman poet Horace in his novel "Odes".

The "Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd", written by Sr. Walter Raleigh, refers to a young female nymph happy vision of life. For her, a true relationship must be based on loyalty and commitment, not like the shepherd's materialistic vision.

The nymph is always looking for something permanent that makes her happy, to "seize the day", even though they would be like dreaming: to be forever young, permanent happiness and true love.

What she means is that she really dreams of a joyful life with the shepherd on her side, but she realizes that he cannot afford her that because of his different and materialistic concept of life.

In the poem "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," the author tells us what a nymph answered when a shepherd promised her his love. The author says that the nymph claimed that the man's mortality made her unable to love him. Whatever he was able to offer would be rotten from the beginning because of her awareness of his mortality. He could only promise her mortal things, while she desired things that never decayed nor disappeared. This poem represents the "carpe diem" philosophy. The phrase reminds us of how short life is, and how, because of it, we would benefit from valuing each day greatly. The poem similarly reminds us of the mortal nature of humans and the way everything we hold dear will eventually disappear.