The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

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 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 poises,
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's 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.
Notes

1...prove: test, try out

2...madrigals: poems set to music and sung by two to six voices with 
.....a single melody or interweaving melodies
3...kirtle: dress or skirt
4...myrtle: shrub with evergreen leaves, white or pink flowers, and dark
.....berries. In Greek mythology, a symbol of love.
5...coral: yellowish red; 

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences

6...amber: yellow or brownish yellow
7...swains: country youths.

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE

Many scholars believe that had Christopher Marlowe lived longer, he might have become a greater
dramatist than William Shakespeare. Marlowe was born only a few months before Shakespeare, on
February 6, 1564, to John and Catherine Marlowe of Canterbury, where the senior Marlowe was a
shoemaker.

Marlowe received a bachelor of arts degree from Corpus Christi College at the University of
Cambridge in 1584. He then continued his studies, using a clergyman's scholarship for funding.
Scholars generally agree that Marlowe probably never had any intention of joining the clergy, but he
was willing to say that he might enter the clergy in order to continue with his studies. When Marlowe
was finally awarded his master of arts degree in 1587, after a great deal of controversy and amid
charges that he was secretly planning on becoming a Catholic priest (Catholics could not receive
degrees from Cambridge during this time, and priests were widely suspected of plots to overthrow
the queen), he was ranked 199 out of 231 students.

After leaving Cambridge, Marlowe moved to London, where he is reported to have had frequent
problems with authorities. He was briefly jailed for murder, although later found to have acted in
self-defense. He was also charged with atheism and blasphemy, and was awaiting trial for these
offenses when he was killed in a brawl, supposedly over an unpaid dinner bill, on May 30, 1593, in
Deptford, England. Marlowe's death, from a stab wound to his forehead, remains controversial, since
some scholars argue that his death was not really the result of a dispute but was more likely an
assassination.

Marlowe's first play, The Great Tamburlaine, Part I (c. 1587), was produced shortly after he left
Cambridge, although scholars think that Marlowe probably wrote Dido Queen of Carthage (c. 1583–
1584) even earlier. The first production of The Great Tamburlaine, Part I was so popular with the
public that Marlowe followed it with a sequel, The Great Tamburlaine, Part II (c. 1587).

Marlowe was the first playwright to use blank verse in a play; previously the standard had been
rhyme, which Marlowe condemns in the prologue to The Great Tamburlaine. Marlowe's The Jew of
Malta, which was produced in 1589 or 1590, was followed by The Massacre at Paris circa 1590. The
Massacre at Paris was never published, and the only known copies are based on an undated and
unreliable octavo edition. Edward II (c. 1592) is considered to be the first great English history play,
though most scholars consider Dr. Faustus (c. 1589) to be Marlowe's greatest work. Dr. Faustus was
not performed until after Marlowe's death and was probably unfinished when the playwright died.

Marlowe also wrote poems during his short life, at least one of which inspired later poets to try to
best him in talent and wit. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," Marlowe's most famous short
poem, was not published until 1599, six years after the poet's death. It is notable for having inspired
Sir Walter Raleigh's "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" (date unknown, but thought to be about
1592), as well as John Donne's "The Bait" (1633).

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences

Writing and Publication Information
.......Marlowe wrote the poem in 1588 or 1589 while attending Cambridge University at its Corpus
Christi College. It first appeared in print in poetry collections published in 1599 and 1600

Type of Work
.......“The Passionate Shepherd” is a pastoral poem. Pastoral poems generally center on the love of a
shepherd for a maiden (as in Marlowe’s poem), on the death of a friend, or on the quiet simplicity of
rural life. The writer of a pastoral poem may be an educated city dweller, like Marlowe, who extols
the virtues of a shepherd girl or longs for the peace and quiet of the country. Pastoral is derived from
the Latin word pastor, meaning shepherd.

Setting
.......Chistopher Marlowe sets the poem in early spring in a rural locale (presumably in England)
where shepherds tend their flocks. The use of the word madrigals (line 8)—referring to poems set to
music and sung by two to six voices with a single melody or interweaving melodies—suggests that
the time is the sixteenth century, when madrigals were highly popular in England and elsewhere in
Europe. However, the poem could be about any shepherd of any age in any country, for such is the
universality of its theme. 

Characters 

The Passionate Shepherd: He importunes a woman—presumably a young and pretty country girl—
to become his sweetheart and enjoy with him all the pleasures that nature has to offer. 
The Shepherd’s Love: The young woman who receives the Passionate Shepherd’s message. 
Swains: Young country fellows whom the Passionate Shepherd promises will dance for his beloved.

Who is the speaker?

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.

What does the use of “passionate” in the title suggest?

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.

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences

Meter
.......The meter is iambic tetrameter, with eight syllables (four iambic feet) per line. (An iambic foot
consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.) The following graphic presentation
illustrates the meter of the first stanza.
The poem is written in very regular iambic tetrameter. Each line contains exactly four heavy stresses,
and the metrical feet are almost always iambic. Similarly, most lines contain eight syllables, and the
few that don't create a specific poetic effect (such as lines 3 and 4), or have easily elided syllables
which may be read as eight.
........1................2...............3...............4 
Come LIVE..|..with ME..|..and BE..|..my LOVE, 
......1...............2...............3..................4 
And WE..|..will ALL..|..the PLEA..|..sures PROVE
........1.................2..................3...................4 
That HILLS..|..and VALL..|..eys, DALE..|..and FIELD, 
......1..................2.................3.................4 
And ALL..|..the CRAG..|..gy MOUNT..|..ains YIELD. 

Rhyme
.......In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the second, and the third rhymes with the fourth. 

Theme
.......The theme of “The Passionate Shepherd” is the rapture of springtime love in a simple, rural
setting. Implicit in this theme is the motif of carpe diem—Latin for “seize the day.” Carpe diem urges
people to enjoy the moment without worrying about the future. 

Structure
.......The poem contains seven quatrains (four-line stanzas) for a total of twenty-eight lines. Marlowe
structures the poem as follows:

Stanza 1:......The shepherd asks the young lady to "live with me and be my love," noting that they
will enjoy all the pleasures of nature. 
Stanzas 2-4: The shepherd makes promises that he hopes will persuade the young lady to accept
his proposal.  
Stanzas 5-7: After making additional promises, the shepherd twice more asks the lady to "live
with me and be my love." 

Figures of Speech
.......Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem. 
Alliteration
Line 2: And we will all the pleasures prove 
Line 5: There will we sit upon the rocks 
Line 6: And see the shepherds feed their flocks 
Line 8: Melodious birds sing madrigals.

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences

Hyperbole
Lines 9-10: There will I make . . . / a thousand fragrant posies
Metaphor
Melodious birds sing madrigals 
Comparison of birdsong to poems set to music (madrigals)

Images

.......Marlowe mixes images of objects made from nature (beds of roses, a cap of flowers, a belt of straw
with ivy buds) with images of man-made objects (gold buckles, silver dishes). His beloved thus will
receive the best of both worlds. 

The Poem’s Enduring Appeal

.......Over the centuries, Marlowe’s little poem has enjoyed widespread popularity because it captures
the joy of simple, uncomplicated love. The shepherd does not worry whether his status makes him
acceptable to the girl; nor does he appear concerned about money or education. The future will take
carry of itself. What matters is the moment. So, he says, let us enjoy it—sitting on a rock listening to
the birds.  
.

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences

Come live with me and be my In the first stanza of "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," Marlowe's
love, speaker, an unidentified shepherd, pleads with an unidentified woman that
And we will all the pleasures if she will come and live with him, then all pleasures will be theirs for the
prove taking. The shepherd opens with the invitation: "Come live with me, and be
That valleys, groves, hills, and my love." He is not asking her to marry him but only to live with him. The
fields, offer is simply put, and his ease in offering it implies that the woman should
Woods, or steepy mountain yields. just as easily agree. However, since the shepherd is forced to continue with a
succession of promises, the reader can assume that the shepherd's initial
offer was not well received.
The shepherd promises the woman pleasures they will experience in all of
the pastoral settings that nature can supply. Since he promises that the
couple will experience these pleasures in a variety of locations, it appears his
expectation is that the pleasures of the world are principally sexual. He is
asking the woman to live with him, and for the Elizabethan poet, "Come live
with me, and be my love" has the same connotations it would have for a
twenty-first-century reader: the female is being invited to come and make
love. "Valleys, groves, hills and fields, / Woods, or steepy mountains" are
some of the places the shepherd suggests where the woman might yield to
him, and where they might both find pleasure. The overt sexuality of this
stanza is a departure from the traditional pastoral writings and romantic
love poems of Marlowe's contemporaries, which were not so bold.
And we will sit upon rocks, The next stanza suggests that the lovers will take their entertainment not in a
Seeing the shepherds feed their theatre or at a banquet, but sitting upon rocks or by rivers. They will watch
flocks, shepherds feeding their flocks, or listening to waterfalls and the songs of
By shallow rivers to whose falls birds. The enticements of such auditory and visual pleasures are entirely
Melodious birds sing madrigals. bucolic, traditional entertainments.
The second stanza suggests a time of year for the lovers' activity, which is
likely spring or summer, since they would be outdoors and the shepherd
imagines it is pleasant enough to sit and watch the flocks being fed. The
shepherd mentions listening to the "Melodious birds sing madrigals."
Because the first stanza makes clear that the shepherd wants the woman to
become his lover, the shift in the second stanza to sitting upon rocks—"And
we will sit upon the rocks"—suggests they might partake of the second
stanza's activities after they have made love.
This second stanza, if taken by itself, exemplifies the traditional pastoral
theme of the restful shepherd watching his flocks, enjoying in quiet repose
the countryside and all it offers. It is the idealization of the pastoral form, in
which nature is benign and safe, filled with "shallow rivers" and "melodious
birds."
And I will make thee beds of roses In the third stanza, the shepherd offers the first of many promises he will
And a thousand fragrant poises, keep if the woman agrees to come and live with him. He promises to make
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle her "beds of roses." In addition, the shepherd promises "a thousand fragrant
Embroidered all with leaves of posies." In essence, the shepherd is promising the impossible, but he is
myrtle; representative of any eager lover who turns to hyperbole (gross
exaggeration) to entice a beloved. In this case, the woman would be buried
in "posies," or flowers, which creates an image more silly than romantic.
The shepherd is so eager for his love to join him that he even promises to
dress her. He will clothe the woman in "a cap of flowers" and in a "kirtle"
covered "with leaves of myrtle." The myrtle flower was a sacred flower to
the goddess Venus and was considered an emblem of love. A kirtle was the
outermost garment that an Elizabethan woman would wear; it was a
sleeveless bodice with eyelets for ribbon that laced up the front. It would
have been worn over a shirt or blouse, or even a dress, and it would have
had a skirt attached to it. The kirtle would have been the dressiest part of the
Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences
 woman's garment, and so the shepherd's plan to decorate the woman's kirtle
would have been in keeping with Elizabethan custom, since the kirtle would
have customarily been adorned with some embellishment.

A gown made of the finest wool In the fourth stanza, the shepherd continues his promises to clothe the
Which from our pretty lambs we woman. Her "gown" would be made of the "finest wool." Rather than simply
pull; shearing the sheep, which was the common procedure, the shepherd would
Fair lined slippers for the cold, "pull" the wool from the "pretty lambs." This image transforms the intense
With buckles of the purest gold; hard labor of shearing into a gentle "pulling" of the wool, a more graceful
and romantic activity. The "slippers" he will make for the woman will be
"fair lined." By the sixteenth century, women were commonly referred to as
the "fair sex," and so the use of "fair" to describe the slippers might also refer
to the woman whose feet the slippers would adorn. The buckles of these
slippers would be of "the purest gold," since the shepherd's mistress would
deserve all the riches he could provide.

A belt of straw and ivy buds, By the fifth stanza, an image of the shepherd's newly adorned mistress
With coral clasps and amber studs; begins to emerge. Line 17 adds a straw belt and "ivy-buds" to a costume that
And if these pleasures may thee is adorned with "coral clasps" and "amber studs," which serve as buttons.
move, The woman is dressed from head to foot and immersed in "posies." If the
Come live with me, and be my woman takes the poet's promises quite literally, she would look like a huge
love. floral bush that glitters with gold, coral, and amber.
In the final two lines of the fifth stanza, the shepherd reiterates his plea that
the woman consider his offer. He first reminds the woman that he promises
her pleasures, which he hopes will convince her to agree to his wishes. The
shepherd then restates the first line of the poem, inviting her to come and
live with him and be his love.

The shepherds's swains shall dance In the sixth and final stanza, the shepherd uses one last opportunity to seal
and sing the deal and convincethe woman to give up her chastity to his entreaties. If
For thy delight each May morning: the woman will agree to be his love, the shepherd promises his "swains"
If these delights thy mind may shall dance and sing. "Swain" was a common word for shepherd, and in the
move, sixteenth century, the two words were used interchangeably to create a more
Then live with me and be my love. favorable image of shepherds. The shepherd's life was one of hard work,
and describing him as a swain, which might also refer to a gallant lover,
conjures a more romantic image.

So, the idyllic nature the shepherd has thus described is further enhanced by
the image of swains who will dance and sing each morning for his lover's
entertainment. The time now is firmly set in May, during spring, nature's
traditional mating time. The poet has included a variety of images from
nature, including the setting, the bed, and the clothing, all of which remind
the reader that nature is primarily focused on reproduction. If the woman
will come and live with him, every day will be happy and filled with
laughter, song, and dance.

In line 23, the shepherd repeats line 19 with a slight but important
modification. Rather than pleasures to convince her, the emphasis is on the
"delights" he has led her mind to imagine. All of his promises have been the
imaginings of a hopeful lover. He has hoped to convince her mind, not her
heart. The shepherd has described an imaginary world that he hopes will
persuade the woman to join him through her use of reason, if not through
her heart. The final line is a repetition of the opening line, reinforcing the
relative ease the woman should face in making her decision. The decision is
as simple as the shepherd's monosyllabic words: "live with me, and be my
Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences
 love."

Topics For Further Study

 Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" is a pastoral poem. Using the
information you now have about pastoral poetry, write your own pastoral poem. As Marlowe
did, invoke the traditional elements, such as the rural countryside and the shepherd, but try
also to create a new tradition by including an element that will make the pastoral style
uniquely your own.
 Research the life of a shepherd in sixteenth-century England and compare it to the life of a
shepherd in the twenty-first century. Which life would you prefer and why?
 Both Sir Walter Raleigh and John Donne composed replies to Marlowe's poem. Pretend you
are a young Elizabethan woman; write your own response to Marlowe's poem. What reasons
can you supply to either accept or decline the shepherd's offer? Remember to structure your
reply in verse form.
 Religious conflict between the Catholic Church and the various protestant factions created a
great deal of tension and occasional danger in Elizabethan England. Research this conflict and,
in a carefully written essay, explain the nature of the conflict and the ways in which this
divisiveness affected the Elizabethan writers of the late sixteenth century. For instance, the
popularity of pastoral poetry was enhanced by the comforting safety that an imagined
countryside suggested. You might take this topic one step further and consider how safe, or
dangerous, religious conflict made the countryside. However, you are not limited to just this
one approach. Your research may suggest additional topics for you to consider.

Compiled by: CHIRBET A. MIGUEL College of Arts and Sciences