This is a distinctly musical line. Raleigh makes particular use of assonance and alliteration, all while paying close attention to meter. The line has four beats. The first three of the beats fall on words that share a hard e vowel sound: “these”/“me”/“means.” The final three fall on words that begin with m: “me”/“means”/“move.” The vowel-sound downturn on the final beat—the shift from e to o—conveys a feeling of released tension, a sort of letdown. Thematically, this feeling expresses the shepherd’s own disappointment when the nymph refuses his gifts.
