The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

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.

The passionate shepherd to his love is one of the poems written by Christopher Marlowe, an English dramatist. The poem describes how the shepherd wants the woman to live with him and be his love. The man is willing to give everything just to get the woman; but instead of giving her things money can buy the shepherd offers her gift from nature. The scenery from the rural country is what he offers to make her happy.

Since the poem uses the rural settings the poem is considered a pastoral poem. The poem beautifies the life of a shepherd who bears a hard life in the country side and cannot offer material things like gold, diamonds and jewelries.

The poem shows how passionate the shepherd is. He is excited to tell what he will do or give to the woman if she accepts him as a lover and live with him.

The poem is inspiring, it shows that there is still a man who will do such thing, a man who don't have a lot of money but still offers beautiful things because now a days it's hard to find someone like that. Today courtships are done through text and social networking site unlike in the poem there is personal interaction.

-- Gabayan, Marielle