The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Poet: Christopher Marlowe
Year Published: 1599

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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.


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This poem is among the most famous and controversial pieces during the Renaissance period. It manifests the pastoral style of writing, which is an early example of its kind during that era.  
 
Written by the English poet Christopher Marlowe, the poem was published six years after the poet's death. It tackles about a young shepherd who falls in love and courts his beloved.
 
In the first stanza, you can already see the lover's desire to be with his beloved. The first line is an invitation to the beloved to live with him and share his lifestyle.
 
The following stanzas further talks about the sweet promises of the shepherd just to make the beloved come with him. He promises to make her a gown, slippers and buckles out of materials from the field.
 
As you may have noticed, the poem is on the style of romanticism, and idealism. The persona promises to do everything for the beloved even to the point of exaggeration.