Fancy Me, Professor!

Chapter 215 - What It Meant

"You are interested in poems?"

Shi Lian and Zhang Ren decided to walk going to Molto Affamato. With them talking about their own hobbies and interests to further get to know each other, Zhang Ren stated that he is interested in poems and that very thought surprised Shi Lian.

"Wow! The fact that you are interested in poetry is something that I didn't expect."

Zhang Ren and Shi Lian were walking, holding each other's hand. With a playful grin on his face, they continued walking as he said a suggestion.

"Want me to tell you a poem that I love to the point I got it memorized? There are actually two as it is a reply to the other poem."

"Oh?"

Shi Lian by this time was actually interested, now cocking her head to the side.

"Then tell me."

Zhang Ren nodded approvingly at her interest. He then told her the poems that were his favorite.

"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe."

"Sounds romantic," Shi Lian commented, Zhang Ren now saying the poem in verbatim.

"Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove, that Valleys, groves, hills, and fields, woods, or steepy mountain yields.

"And we will sit upon the Rocks, seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks, by shallow Rivers to whose falls melodious birds sing Madrigals.

"And I will make thee beds of Roses and a thousand fragrant posies, a cap of flowers, and a kirtle embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

"A gown made of the finest wool which from our pretty Lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, with buckles of the purest gold;

"A belt of straw and Ivy buds, with Coral clasps and Amber studs: and if these pleasures may thee move, come live with me, and be my love.

"The Shepherds' Swains shall dance and sing for thy delight each May-morning: If these delights thy mind may move, then live with me, and be my love."

Shi Lian all the more found Zhang Ren amazing that he was able to memorize that poem—verbatim—every word.

"Why do you love the poem?" she asked, and Zhang Ren hadn't yet answered her question. With a grin on his face, he further said something more interesting that piqued Shi Lian's curiosity.

"You have to listen to the reply of the nymph to the passionate shepherd."

Shi Lian blinked her eyes a few times in wonder.

"There is more?"

"Oh, but of course," Zhang Ren replied, both of them still walking going towards Molto Affamato. "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh."

And with that, Shi Lian silenced again to further listen to Zhang Ren speak.

"If all the world and love were young, and truth in every Shepherd's tongue, these pretty pleasures might me move, to live with thee, and be thy love.

"Time drives the flocks from field to fold, when Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold, and Philomel becometh dumb, the rest complains of cares to come.

"The flowers do fade, and wanton fields, to wayward winter reckoning yields, a honey tongue, a heart of gall, is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

"Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses, thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten: in folly ripe, in reason rotten.

"Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds, the Coral clasps and amber studs, all these in me no means can move to come to thee and be thy love.

"But could youth last, and love still breed, had joys no date, nor age no need, then these delights my mind might move to live with thee, and be thy love."

After Zhang Ren has said the next poem, Shi Lian was really amused that he had memorized two foreign poems as if he had really read it by heart.

Making Shi Lian all the more curious, she asked how, making Zhang Ren chuckle with because of her sudden interest.

"May I ask… how you were able to memorize a poem that is foreign to our country? You're a math major. How is that even possible?"

"Well, I couldn't say," Zhang Ren said honestly, trying his best to answer her. "I often run to my grandfather's place because of my family. And I have grown fond of reading as a way to pass the time. Makes you think why I didn't take up foreign literature as my major, no?"

"Yeah," Shi Lian agreed, cocking her head to the side once more. "Why?"

"It didn't occur to me. Honestly, I find myself comfortable in mathematics since I always loved the subject since I was young."

"I see… so reading is just a hobby—a pastime that you love?"

"Yes," Zhang Ren answered, "and oddly, I find it amazing that I memorized those poems when I only read it like… twice… four times? But it has struck me, though—how the poem in the first had gotten a reply."

Shi Lian smiled and made a comment about the two poems as well.

"Well, the first one sounds romantic. However, the reply of the nymph made it sound like she doesn't appreciate the shepherd at all."

"True," Zhang Ren agreed along with a chuckle. "Which is why I truly find it amusing—those two poems. It was popular during that time when I searched it on the net."

"Wow… you really like studying literature from time to time. There is something more to you than meets the eye."

"Perhaps," Zhang Ren replied, his smile not leaving his face. "Maybe if I'd have the motivation to study another thing, maybe literature would be another thing."

Zhang Ren then further discussed about the first poem as if he was a professor discussing to a student.

He told her that "The Passionate Shepherd" is a poem of seduction. In it, the speaker tries to convince his listener to come to the country and be his lover.

The speaker makes his case on the basis of the luxuries they will enjoy together in the countryside, describing it as a place of pleasure that is at once sensual and innocent.

He wants his "love" to simply sit on the rocks for a while and appreciate the scene, without worrying about their responsibilities.

Although the joys the speaker describes may be fleeting, they are still rich and seductive. Listing them, the speaker makes a case for embracing the pure pleasure of love and rejects the idea that doing so might have negative consequences.

As its title suggests, "The Passionate Shepherd" is thus a passionate poem, full of sexual tension. But, diverging from traditions that associate sexuality with sin and death, the poem portrays this sexuality as an innocent.

There seem to be no costs associated with the pleasures the speaker describes in his seduction. Instead, the countryside is presented as a place of play and sheer joy, song, and dance.

The speaker refuses to admit any problems, troubles, or downsides into the world he imagines occupying with his "love." Instead, he urges his love to just live in the moment, enjoying the sensual pleasures he lists for their own sake, without worrying about the consequences.

Indeed, the speaker offers these delights as an escape from responsibilities and consequences.

He then further proceeded to talk about the second poem as well. The poem, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," was written by Sir Walter Raleigh, and is a response from a nymph rejecting a shepherd's proposal of love.

By expressing in imaginative detail the reasoning behind her rejections, stanza-by-stanza, the speaker within the poem, a young female nymph, responds to the shepherd's vision of their "happily-ever-after."

The nymph, having superior rationality, coolly objects the shepherd's offerings and explains to him that all he proposes is of the limited timeframe of a mortal being; his offerings will not last.

As the stanzas progress, the darker, innate meaning of the nymph's eternal message becomes less latent and can be manifested in the shepherd's mortal view of life. It quickly becomes apparent throughout the poem that the nymph is attempting to help the shepherd.

While the shepherd can only focus on his love for the nymph, thinking only of the gifts that he will give her, she attempts to show him the irony of their discourse, relaying to him the mortality of his pastoral life.

As Zhang Ren continued to discuss, even Shi Lian who thinks literature is so boring now found herself to be appreciating it with the way Zhang Ren had been discussing it pretty well. People who would listen to him would think that he is a very intelligent person with how spontaneous and coherent he is.

Shi Lian listened to every word that came out of his mouth as if it were gospel. She smiled with every interest at how animated Zhang Ren was and even the guy himself noticed how enthusiastic he was in talking about a topic like this with Shi Lian.

Maybe this is what it meant to like someone and having your affections reciprocated.

Both of you are interested to whatever it is being talked about regardless of your differences.