As we’re looking at Ralegh’s works I wanted to take some time to ask the class what they think is going threw his head at this time. Now the book says that in 1591 he seduced one of Elizabeths maids in waiting. The book doesn’t address when Elizabeth put him in jail but it is very likely soon after his marriage. His poem the “Nymph’s Reply” was published in 1600. If my understanding of this piece as an allegory of the affectionate but painful relationship between Ralegh and Elizabeth is right, then there are two ways to interpret this.

Either one he wrote it to try and show Elizabeth that he was still loved her and that she should let him out of the tower. Or he wrote this before she put him in the tower and it is only now being published. What do you think the poem is trying to say? Is the nymph someone else maybe this lady in waiting?