Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods or steepy mountains 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 shepherd 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.
Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" fits perfectly into the poetic genre of the period. Poets of the Elizabethan age used poetry as a way to express their wit and talent. It is likely that Marlowe's poem would have been passed around among his friends long before its publication in 1599 in England, six years after the poet's death. Few Elizabethan poets published their own work, especially one as young as Marlowe, and so it is fairly certain that the poem was well-known long before its publication. The composition date is thought to be about 1588, and probably it generated many responses well before its publication nearly a dozen years later. Among these responses was Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (date unknown, but thought to be about 1592), which provides the woman's response to Marlowe's shepherd. Marlowe's poem also inspired several other notable works that were similar in tone and content, including John Donne's "The Bait" (1633), which also relies upon wit and sexuality to entertain the reader.
"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is written in the pastoral tradition that originated with Theocritus in Greece during the third century B.C. The pastoral tradition is characterized by a state of contentment and of innocent and romantic love. Rural country folk are presented in an idealized natural setting, while they contemplate their perfect and peaceful world that is absent the worries and issues of crowded city life. As was common of Elizabethan poets, Marlowe plays with the traditional pastoral formula. He introduces sexuality and includes images that make the shepherd's plea seem ridiculous rather than ideal.
The speaker in "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is a shepherd, who pledges to do the impossible if only the female object of his desires will accept his pleas. The poem is static in time, with no history or clearly defined future. Only the present matters. There is never any suggestion that the poet is asking the woman for a long-term commitment; there is no offer of marriage nor does he offer a long-term future together. Instead, he asks her to come and live with him and seek pleasure in the moment. The use of "passionate" in the title suggests strong emotions, but may also refer to an ardent desire to possess the woman sexually, since there is never any declaration of love. The shepherd makes a number of elaborate promises that are generally improbable and occasionally impossible. The woman's response is never heard, and she is not present in any way except as the object of the shepherd's desire.
Prior to the composition of "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," early English Renaissance poetry had been most concerned with romantic love. These poems, which included poems by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, were traditional love poems, characterized by the pleas of a rejected suitor who would find solace in the soothing atmosphere of country life. Marlowe tweaked the traditional, transforming it into a more dynamic piece. As a result, Marlowe's poem remains a long lasting and important example of the Elizabethan poet's talent. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is included in most literature anthologies published for academic use, including the seventh edition of the Norton Anthology of English Literature.
In addition to being one of the most well-known love poems in the English language, it is considered one of the earliest
examples of the pastoral style of British poetry in the
late Renaissance period. It is composed in Iambic
tetrameter (four feet of unstressed/stressed syllables), with six stanzas each composed of two rhyming couplets. It is
often used for scholastic purposes because the poem is a good example of regular meter and rhythm.
The poem was the subject of a well-known "reply" by Walter Raleigh, called
The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd. The interplay between the
two poems extends into the the relationship that Marlowe had with Raleigh. Marlowe was young, his poetry romantic, rhythmic, and
in the Passionate Shepherd he idealises the love object (the Nymph). Raleigh was an old courtier, and an accomplished poet himself. His attitude is more jaded, and in writing the Nymph's reply it is
clear that he is rebuking Marlowe for being naive and juvenile in both his writing style and the Shepherd's thoughts about love.
Subsequent responses to Marlowe have come from John Donne[1] , C Day Lewis[2], William Carlos Williams[3],Ogden Nash
[4],W. D. Snodgrass[5], Douglas Crase and Greg Delanty[6]
The poem was adapted for the lyrics of the 1930s-style swing song performed by Stacey Kent at the celebratory ball in the 1995 film of William Shakespeare's Richard III.
Shakespeare was a contemporary of Marlowe, but given that his historical play was set in the 15th century, the use of Marlowe's
lyrics was anachronistic, if effective. It was also the third of the Liebeslieder
Polkas for Mixed Chorus and Piano Five Hands, written by P.D.Q. Bach (released in
1980) and performed by the Swarthmore College Chorus.
Analysis of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
A Breakdown of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Theme
The message from Marlowe was one of ideal love, and also taking life at leisure.
“Come live with me, and be my love,/And we will all the pleasures prove (experience)(line 1)
“And I will make thee a bed of roses,/And a thousand fragrant posies.” (line 9)
“And we will sit upon the rocks,/Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks” (line 5)
Tone
The narrator gives off a sense of extreme optimism, as if he believes everything will work out between him and his love.
“A gown made of the finest wool/Which from our pretty lambs we pull” (line 13)
“And if these pleasures may thee move,/Come live with me and be my love.” (line 19)
Structure
The poem is twenty-four lines, which are broken up into six quatrains, and each quatrain is divided into two rhyming
couplets.
“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.” (line 1)
It is written in the pastoral tradition.
“And we will sit upon the rocks,/ Seeing shepherds feed their flocks/By shallow rivers, to whose falls/Melodious birds sing
madrigals. (line 5)
Diction
Composed in iambic tetrameter
“A belt of straw and ivy buds,/With coral clasps and amber studs,” (line 17)
Has an AABB rhyme scheme
“The shepherd swains(young boys)--shall dance and sing/For thy delight each May morning.” (line 21)
Some of the couplets rely on slant-rhyme, and eye-rhyme, contributing to the poem's overriding sense of naivety
“If these delights thy mind may move,/Then live with me, and be my love.” (line 23)
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