thesis statement for the passionate shepherd to his love

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

By Christopher Marlowe

‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ by Christopher Marlowe describes the life that a shepherd wishes to create for his lover.

Christopher Marlowe

Nationality: English

His poems include  ' The Passionate Shepherd to His Lover .' 

Poem Analyzed by Emma Baldwin

B.A. English (Minor: Creative Writing), B.F.A. Fine Art, B.A. Art Histories

‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ by Christopher Marlowe is a six-stanza poem that is made up of sets of four lines, or quatrains . Each of these quatrains follows the consistent rhyming pattern of aabb ccdd… and so on. The poet has chosen to utilize this rhyming pattern in an effort to create a sing-song-like melody to the poem. It is a piece with a hopeful and pleasant tone , and the rhyme scheme emphasizes this feature.

‘ The Passionate Shepherd to His Love ’ by Christopher Marlowe describes the life that a shepherd wishes to create for his lover if she agrees to come and live with him.

The poem begins with the speaker asking his lover to come and be with him forever. If she does this simple thing, they will be able to experience all the joy that the world has to offer. They will have all the best in life.  

He continues on to state that not only will they be happy in their love, but that he will create for her the most lovely of items. He will use the flowers in their new abode to craft pieces of clothing like hats and petticoats. The shepherd will also use the wool from their lambs to make her dresses. He clearly believes that these items of clothing will be enough, along with his love, to entice her to live with him.  

By the end of the piece, it is not clear whether or not she accepts his offer, but he seems to understand that it is up to her. He has done his best and is awaiting her answer.  

In ‘ The Passionate Shepherd to His Love ‘, Christopher Marlowe employs iambic tetrameter , a rhythmic pattern of four iambs per line, giving the poem a melodious and inviting quality. This meter differs from the more solemn iambic pentameter , which he uses in his plays, signaling a deliberate choice for a lighter, more playful tone in this pastoral poem .

While the rhythm is consistent, Marlowe introduces subtle variations by occasionally omitting unstressed syllables. These rhythmic deviations, such as the headless line in the final foot of the third line or the suspended beat on “hills,” echo the natural undulations of the landscape, enhancing the poem’s immersive pastoral aesthetic.

Through these intentional rhythmic choices, Marlowe enriches the poem’s texture and infuses it with a dynamic range that complements the vivid pastoral imagery .

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

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.  

The speaker of this poem, the “Passionate Shepherd,” begins by making the one request of his lover that serves as the basis for the rest of the poem. He at once lives up to his name as he asks his unnamed lover to “Come live with me.” He is hoping that she, upon hearing his request, will leave whatever life she is living behind, and come and “be [his] love” wherever he may be.  

He does not leave her without some idea of what it will be like to live with him, in fact, he spends the majority of the rest of ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ describing to his love what her life will be if she agrees.  

The second half of this first quatrain describes how when the two of them are together, with nothing standing between them, they will “all the pleasures prove.” They will venture out into the world and “yield,” or take, from the “Valleys, groves, hills and fields / Woods, or steepy mountain[s],” everything they have to offer. There will be nothing in the world from which the couple cannot feel passion.

Stanza Two  

And we will sit upon the Rocks,   Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,   By shallow Rivers to whose falls   Melodious birds sing Madrigals.  

In the second stanza of ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ , the speaker goes on to describe some day-to-day details of what their lives would be like together. He states that they will “sit upon the Rocks” of this new and beautiful world they are living in together and “See” the “Shepherds” with their flocks of sheep. They will observe the world that they used to live in and appreciate its intricacies.  

Due to the fact that their lives are now devoted to one another and to the world they inhabit, they have time to notice the details around them. They will see and hear the “shallow Rivers,” and the “Melodious birds” which sing to the crashing of the falling water. The songs the birds sing will be like “Madrigals,” or harmonious pieces of music written for multiple voices.  

Stanza Three  

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;  

The shepherd still has a number of different enticements to offer his lover in the hope that she will join him. He describes how he will “make [her] a bed of Roses.” He will fill her life with flowers by creating for her a “kirtle” or an outer gown, and a “cap,” which will all be “Embroidered…with the leaves of Myrtle,” a common flowering shrub.  

Stanza Four  

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;  

In the fourth quatrain and the halfway point of ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ , the speaker continues on describing the different pieces of clothing and accessories that he will craft for his lover. It is important to remember that all of these items are contingent on her coming to live with him.  

He will spin for her a “gown made of the finest wool” from the lambs that they will tend together. His occupation is now working in her favor and he is able to make her exactly, what he thinks, she wants.  

He does not neglect her feet and states that she will also have “Fair lined slippers” that she can wear when it gets cold. The buckles on her shoes will be made of the “purest gold.”  

Stanza Five

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.  

In the second to last stanza, he begins to conclude his offer. He finishes up describing the wardrobe she will have by describing her gaining a belt made “of straw and Ivy buds.” It will also feature “Coral clasps and Amber studs.” It is clear that the speaker is doing his utmost to find and describe things that he thinks she wants the most. Whether this is the case or not the reader will never know.  

In the second half of the stanza, he repeats his request that if only she will “live with [him]” all “these pleasures” will be hers.  

Stanza Six  

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.

In the final section of ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ the speaker describes how after she has accepted his offer the “Shepherds’ Swains,” or their comrades and lovers, will “dance and sing.” All people will “delight” in the fact that they are finally together as they should be.  

In the last two lines, he repeats, for the third time, his offer. He asks that if “these delights” move “thy mind” then she should come “live with [him], and be [his] love.

Home » Christopher Marlowe » The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

About Emma Baldwin

Join the poetry chatter and comment.

Exclusive to Poetry + Members

Join Conversations

Share your thoughts and be part of engaging discussions.

Expert Replies

Get personalized insights from our Qualified Poetry Experts.

Connect with Poetry Lovers

Build connections with like-minded individuals.

What is the meter of this poem?

Hey Ryan! The meter is iambic tetrameter on the whole – four iambs per line.

However, do note that Marlowe does change this every so often (see line 3, 4, 10, and 15 to name a few).

We’ve added a heading ‘Meter’ to help better explain this too, along with the poem full meter syllables – hope this helps and let us know if you have any more questions!

What would be the plot?

Hi, This is covered in the article. Although poems rarely have a plot, the article suggests what the poem is about in the opening of the article. I hope this helps.

The citation of the article, please

It was published by Emma Baldwin on 19 Nov 2018

thank you 🙂

You’re welcome.

To quote Madison Avenue, “Don’t call me baby”

Your username looks like your cat run across your keyboard.

Access the Complete PDF Guide of this Poem

Poetry+ PDF Guides are designed to be the ultimate PDF Guides for poetry. The PDF Guide consists of a front cover, table of contents, with the full analysis, including the Poetry+ Review Corner and numerically referenced literary terms, plus much more.

Get the PDF Guide

Experts in Poetry

Our work is created by a team of talented poetry experts, to provide an in-depth look into poetry, like no other.

Cite This Page

Baldwin, Emma. "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/christopher-marlowe/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love/ . Accessed 30 June 2024.

Help Center

Request an Analysis

(not a member? Join now)

Poem PDF Guides

PDF Learning Library

Poetry + Newsletter

Poetry Archives

Poetry Explained

Poet Biographies

Useful Links

Poem Explorer

Poem Generator

[email protected]

Poem Solutions Limited, International House, 36-38 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NG, United Kingdom

Discover and learn about the greatest poetry, straight to your inbox

Unlock the Secrets to Poetry

Download Poetry PDFs Guides

Complete Poetry PDF Guide

Perfect Offline Resource

Covers Everything Need to Know

One-pager 'snapshot' PDF

Offline Resource

Gateway to deeper understanding

Get this Poem Analysis as an Offline Resource

Poetry+ PDF Guides are designed to be the ultimate PDF Guides for poetry. The PDF Guide contains everything to understand poetry.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Summary & Analysis by Christopher Marlowe

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"The Passionate Shepherd" is a poem written by the English poet Christopher Marlowe, likely in the early 1590s. It was one of the most popular and widely read poems of the English Renaissance; many poets, such as Sir Walter Ralegh, wrote responses praising, criticizing, and poking fun at it. In the poem, the speaker tries to seduce someone whom he refers to simply as his "love." In order to seduce this person, he describes a rural life full of intense sensual pleasure—but unpolluted by sin or sorrow. The resulting tableau is both beautiful and idealized: in his attempt to seduce his "love," the shepherd leaves out much of the complication and sorrow that mark real relationships.

• Read the full text of “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

The Full Text of “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

1 Come live with me and be my love,

2 And we will all the pleasures prove,

3 That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

4 Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

5 And we will sit upon the Rocks,

6 Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,

7 By shallow Rivers to whose falls

8 Melodious birds sing Madrigals.

9 And I will make thee beds of Roses

10 And a thousand fragrant posies,

11 A cap of flowers, and a kirtle

12 Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle;

13 A gown made of the finest wool

14 Which from our pretty Lambs we pull;

15 Fair lined slippers for the cold,

16 With buckles of the purest gold;

17 A belt of straw and Ivy buds,

18 With Coral clasps and Amber studs:

19 And if these pleasures may thee move,

20 Come live with me, and be my love.

21 The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing

22 For thy delight each May-morning:

23 If these delights thy mind may move,

24 Then live with me, and be my love.

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Summary

“the passionate shepherd to his love” themes.

Love and Pleasure

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Country vs. City

The Nobility of Pastoral Work

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “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 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;

Lines 13-20

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.

Lines 21-24

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” Symbols

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

End-Stopped Line

Alliteration, personification, “the passionate shepherd to his love” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

Rhyme scheme, “the passionate shepherd to his love” speaker, “the passionate shepherd to his love” setting, literary and historical context of “the passionate shepherd to his love”, more “the passionate shepherd to his love” resources, external resources.

Another of the Same Nature, Made Since — Another response to Marlowe's poem, this one anonymous.

A Reading of "The Passionate Shepherd" — A reading of "The Passionate Shepherd."

The Mysterious Passionate Pilgrim — A blog entry with information about the book The Passionate Pilgrim, in which "The Passionate Shepherd" was first printed, alongside several of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Early Printings of "The Passionate Shepherd" — This page contains information about and images of the first printed versions of Marlowe's poem.

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd — Sir Walter Ralegh's response to Marlowe's poem.

Pastoral — A guide to the pastoral genre, from the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

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 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.

Summary of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Analysis of literary devices in “the passionate shepherd to his love”.

“By shallow Rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing Madrigals.”

“And I will make thee beds of Roses And a thousand fragrant posies.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Quotes to be Used

“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.”

Related posts:

Post navigation.

The Passionate Shepherd Thesis statement

antdance011 2 / 6   Feb 5, 2011   #1 Thesis Statement The passionate yet lonely shepherd wants a lady to come live him and be his love Christopher Marlowe is simply trying to capture the joy of simple and uncomplicated love. Although the shepherd knows he's not rich he will offer her all the pleasures that nature provides. Then later on in life he will give his love all the expensive gifts and more that will make her happy. The shepherd is offering his proposal for her love throughout the entire poem. needs advice please

LisaTheKidd 2 / 7   Feb 5, 2011   #2 The passionate yet lonely shepherd wants a lady to come live with him and be his love . Christopher Marlowe is simply trying to capture the joy of simple and uncomplicated love. This sentence makes it seem as though he's failed. I'd say, "C. Marlowe's poem captures the joy of uncomplicated love" Although the shepherd knows he's not rich he will offer her all the pleasures that nature provides. Then later on in life he will give his love all the expensive gifts and more that will make her happy. The shepherd is offering his proposal for her love throughout the entire poem. we know this already from the first sentence. This last sentence is a good spot for an opinionated thesis, such as, "Using imagery of nature, an uncomplicated rhyming scheme, and romantic tone, Marlowe offers a simple, well-meaning hero worthy of his heart's desire" or if you think he's out of his league with this girl, you might say, "The tragic protagonist of "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love" uses his simple prose and promises of a grander future to entice the woman of his dreams, though it is clear that her tastes will prevent this inauspicious proposal from success." The key to a thesis is using what's in front of you to form an opinion, then backing it up. Hope I've helped a bit!

OP antdance011 2 / 6   Feb 7, 2011   #3 thanks alot

OP antdance011 2 / 6   Feb 10, 2011   #4 have you ever read this poem

A Short Analysis of Christopher Marlowe’s ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ is Christopher Marlowe’s most widely anthologised and best-known poem (he also wrote plays, including The Jew of Malta and Dr Faustus , which would influence Shakespeare’s early plays). A classic of the pastoral tradition of English poetry, ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ deserves closer analysis because it contains so many features of pastoral verse and, in many ways, is the finest embodiment of the genre in English literature.

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 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.

‘Come live with me’ is an old line in lyric poetry stretching from ancient Rome to Heaven 17 , but perhaps the poet who gave this sentiment the definitive treatment was Christopher Marlowe (1564-93). In ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’, Marlowe’s speaker sings the praises of a life in the countryside (as opposed to the town or city), in an attempt to win round his would-be beloved, whom he addresses.

To paraphrase ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’:

‘Come live with me and be my lover, and we will make the most of all the pleasures that the valleys, fields, woods, and mountains afford.’

‘We’ll sit on the rocks and watch the shepherds feeding their flocks of sheep, and we’ll hear the birds singing their madrigals [elaborate songs sung by a group of performers] by the waterfalls.’

‘I’ll fashion you a bed out of the roses, and use the roses to make you a thousand sweet-smelling bundles of roses, as well as a cap made out of flowers to wear, and a kirtle [ladies’ gown] embroidered with myrtle leaves [an evergreen shrub].’

‘As I’m a shepherd, I’ll have plenty of lambs, and can make you a gown from their wool; I can also use their wool to make you slippers for when it’s cold, slippers with gold buckles.’

‘You can have a belt fashioned from straw and ivy buds, with clasps made of coral and studs of amber. If any of this appeals to you, come and live with me in this idyllic pastoral world and be my lover.’

‘The young lovers of the shepherds will dance and sing for your enjoyment every Mayday [when we get the Maypole out]; again, if this appeals to you, live with me and be my lover.’

The countryside, as the poem’s speaker presents it, is abundant and pretty, full of fine flowers, from which he will create ‘beds of Roses’ and sweet posies. The countryside also provides soft lamb’s wool, from which the lady’s gown and slippers can be fashioned. Who needs the town when you have everything you need in the country? Jewellery, too, can be made from coral and amber found nearby.

This, then, is a poem firmly in the pastoral tradition, and should be read and analysed as such. Pastoral poetry isn’t just writing about rural life and landscapes: it  idealises  the countryside, usually through the figure of the shepherd and beautiful, enticing images of the greenery and abundance of the countryside.

And this is exactly what Marlowe is doing in ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’: the poem is almost an advert for life in the countryside as much as it is an attempt to seduce the young woman to up sticks and move to the country with the poet. (We’ve compiled more seduction poems here .)

In terms of its form and metre: the poem is fairly regularly metrical, written in iambic tetrameter rhyming couplets, arranged as quatrains rhyming  aabb . The iambic metre gives us the close approximation to human speech: although the poem is formal and artificial (Marlowe is taking on the idealised figure of the shepherd; in reality he was a playwright, poet, and possibly a spy, working in London), Marlowe writes in a fairly direct and down-to-earth way to his would-be lover.

The tetrameter metre reminds us of song (giving us shorter lines than pentameter, which was used in Marlowe’s verse drama), which is also appropriate given the poem’s focus on madrigals, dances, and birdsong.

What did the woman say to this offer to ‘come live with me and be my love’? We know what the passionate shepherd said, but what his love replied, we are not told. At least, not by Christopher Marlowe.

It took another poet – a man better-known as an explorer than as a writer – to pen her response. He was Sir Walter Raleigh, and he wrote ‘The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd’ (presumably with his tongue firmly in his cheek as he took Marlowe’s rural flirt down a peg or two):

If all the world and love were young, And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee, and be thy love.

Time drives the flocks from field to fold, When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb, The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields, To wayward winter reckoning yields, A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten: In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds, The Coral clasps and amber studs, All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee, and be thy love.

A note on pronunciation: we’re unsure on precisely how we should analyse the rhyme of ‘love’ and ‘prove’ (or ‘love’ and ‘move’). Is this meant to be mere eye-rhyme, or did these words rhyme perfectly in Christopher Marlowe’s time?

There is some evidence to suggest that Shakespeare would have pronounced ‘prove’ to rhyme with ‘love’ (or with ‘shove’), i.e. as ‘pruv’, so the same might be said for Marlowe too (although he was a Kent boy rather than a Warwickshire lad). So, that settles that, then.

The poem has been set to music numerous times; you can listen to it being performed here .

If you found this analysis of ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ useful, you might also enjoy our five fun facts about Christopher Marlowe .

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

2 thoughts on “A Short Analysis of Christopher Marlowe’s ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’”

Just in case it’s any help, at least Professor Crystal is quite certain of the pronunciation of “love” and “prove”: https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016/03/28/shakespeare-spoke-original-pronunciation-rhymes-puns/

True story – I have a friend who has studied Shakespeare in-depth for most of her academic career. She was dating a guy once, and he really wanted to impress her. So he sent her Marlow’s poem, not knowing it had a come-back. He was a bit taken aback when she replied with Raleigh’s!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

• Poem Guides
• Poem of the Day
• Collections
• Harriet Books
• Featured Blogger
• Articles Home
• All Articles
• Podcasts Home
• All Podcasts
• Glossary of Poetic Terms
• Poetry Out Loud
• Upcoming Events
• All Past Events
• Exhibitions
• Poetry Magazine Home
• Current Issue
• Poetry Magazine Archive
• Subscriptions
• About the Magazine
• How to Submit
• Advertise with Us
• About Us Home
• Foundation News
• Awards & Grants
• Media Partnerships
• Press Releases
• Newsletters

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Print this page
• Email this page

Queer Love Poems

Love is love poetry, by and for LGBTQ+ folks.

Classic and contemporary love poems to share.

Gay and Lesbian Wedding Poems

Love poetry to read at a lesbian or gay wedding.

Hero and Leander

From hero and leander: "it lies not in our power to love or hate", elegies, book one, 5.

• Audio Poems
• Audio Poem of the Day
• Twitter Find us on Twitter
• Facebook Find us on Facebook
• Instagram Find us on Instagram
• Facebook Find us on Facebook Poetry Foundation Children
• Twitter Find us on Twitter Poetry Magazine
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Poetry Mobile App
• 61 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654
• © 2024 Poetry Foundation

The achievement of Christopher Marlowe, poet and dramatist, was enormous—surpassed only by that of his exact contemporary, William Shakespeare. A few months the elder, Marlowe was usually the leader, although Shakespeare was able to bring his art to a higher perfection. Most dramatic poets of...

• Renaissance
• Marriage & Companionship
• Classic Love
• Infatuation & Crushes
• Romantic Love
• Relationships
• Landscapes & Pastorals
• Valentine's Day

• study guides
• lesson plans
• homework help

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Essay

Metzger has a doctorate in English Renaissance literature. She teaches literature and drama at the University of New Mexico, where she is a lecturer in the University Honors Program. In this essay, Metzger discusses the silent voices of the women who inhabit Elizabethan seduction poems.

A quick reading of Christopher Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" offers a brief though descriptive argument that the shepherd hopes will convince the object of his affections to agree to come and live with him. If the reader considers merely the projection of the woman who is only seen through the shepherd's imaginings, she is reduced to little more than a caricature, ridiculously clothed in floral tributes. Of course, the shepherd cares little for this problem, since the emphasis of the poem is only on his "passionate" desire to possess the woman. The woman, who has no name and...

(read more)

FOLLOW BOOKRAGS:

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Poetry — Central Themes of The Passionate Shepherd to his Love and The Nymph’s Reply

Central Themes of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and The Nymph’s Reply

• Categories: Poetry

About this sample

Words: 952 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 952 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

• Kirchdorfer, U. (2014). William Faulkner Does Christopher Marlowe: Textual Similarities of Courtship in A ROSE FOR EMILY and THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE. The Explicator, 72(4), 308-311. (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.2014.962462?journalCode=vexp20)
• Cheney, P. (2016). “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and Hero and Leander. In Christopher Marlowe at 450 (pp. 175-212). Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315571959-12/specters-marlowe-state-debt-work-mourning-1-richard-wilson)
• Hamlin, H. (2016). Replying to Raleigh’s ‘The Nymph’s Reply’: Allusion, anti-pastoral, and four centuries of pastoral invitations. In Literary and visual Ralegh (pp. 166-199). Manchester University Press. (https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/9781526111470/9781526111470.00011.xml)
• Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for Walter Raleigh's" The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd". Gale, Cengage Learning. (https://www.scribd.com/book/385750006/A-Study-Guide-for-Walter-Raleigh-s-The-Nymph-s-Reply-to-the-Shepherd?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google_search&utm_campaign=3Q_Google_DSA_NB_RoW&utm_term=&utm_device=c&gclid=Cj0KCQiAorKfBhC0ARIsAHDzslts62vL6sVkjFOEPsKFOlEEsJPtg9dPByTpKGjwp4bydLuJVGpvLiUaAkmaEALw_wcB)
• Gurney, E. (2017). The Nymph’s Reply: Kathryn Stripling Byer and Pastoral Romance. (https://mds.marshall.edu/asa_conference/2017/accepted_proposals/235/)

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Heisenberg

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1207 words

1 pages / 1000 words

3 pages / 1545 words

2 pages / 982 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Poetry

Poetry has a universal appeal that transcends time and space, evoking emotions and inspiring reflection. Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a prime example of the power of poetry to captivate and provoke [...]

Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" explores the themes of acceptance and the transient nature of beauty. Through the use of symbolism, Frost conveys the idea that all things must eventually come to an end, and that [...]

Rudyard Kipling's poem "The White Man's Burden" was penned in 1899 at the height of European colonialism and imperialism. The poem reflects the prevalent attitudes towards colonial rule and the perceived responsibilities of the [...]

The use of metaphor is a common literary device employed by writers to convey complex ideas or emotions in a concise yet powerful manner. Sylvia Plath, in particular, was known for her prolific use of metaphors in her poetry and [...]

In Literary Theory: The Basics, H. Bertens asserts that even in the works of culturally and sexually liberal male writers such as D.H Lawrence and Henry Miller, male characters are “denigrating, exploitative, and repressive in [...]

“A Summer Evening’s Meditation” is a poem by Anna Letitia Barbauld that was published in 1773. The poem details the expansive thoughts of the speaker who is reflecting and philosophizing upon a summer evening’s sky. In this [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love

The Passionate Shepherd to his Love is the only poem that can today be clearly attributed to Christopher Marlowe. It had been known since the late 1580s and is one of the most frequently paraphrased and set to music poems in the Anglo-American world.

Table of Contents

The poem exists in several versions. The best known consists of 6 stanzas of four verses each in an eight-syllable iamb with the rhyme scheme aabb.

In 1599 or 1598 William Jaggard published the anthology The Passionate Pilgrim . It contains 20 poems, all of which, according to the title page, are by William Shakespeare . This claim was already untenable at the time. Poem XIX from The Passionate Pilgrim appeared in 1600 in an amended form in John Flasket’s anthology England’s Helicon . In it, the poem was first given the title The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and was attributed to Christopher Marlowe.

Marlowe’s authorship is not in doubt. If he was indeed not the author, he was at least very impressed by the poem. It is quoted or paraphrased a total of 14 times in his plays. 3 Among the most famous passages are the beginning of Dido , where Jupiter starts his seduction of Ganymed with "Come, gentle Ganymed and play with me." 4 and ends it with "And shall have, Ganymede, if thou wilt be my love." 5 as Ithimores love declaration to Bellamira in The Jew of Malta :

"Content, but we will leave this paltry land, And saile from hence to Greece, to lovely Greece, I’le be thy Jason, thou my golden Fleece; Where painted Carpets o’er the meads are hurl’d, And Bacchus vineyards over-spread the world: Where Woods and Forrests gor in goodly greene, I’le be Adonis, thou shalt be Love’s Queene. The Meads, the Orchards, and the Primrose lanes, Instead of Sedge and Reed, bear Sugar Canes: Thou in those Groves, by Dis above, Shalt live with me and be my love." 6

Forsythe concludes from the parallels in the plays that it was written around 1588. Although he dates The Jew of Malta quite early, the assumption is conclusive, as the poem had been known in English literature since the late 1580s. 7

For a long time, the most important source for the poem was considered to be Ovid’s Metamorphosis , Book XIII, 789-839. 8 In it, the cyclops Polyphemus, in love, describes to the nymph Galatea his possessions as well as gifts he would give her if only she would accept him. Pastoral poems were not uncommon at the end of the 16th century. What distinguishes Marlowe’s poem from all the others, however, is the "invitation to love" – a literary stylistic device that made its way into English literature thanks to Marlowe. 9 Other models could be considered for the invitation in connection with a locus amoenus. 10 The Song of Song s contains three passages (2:10-14; 4:8 and 7:12-13) in which either the man or the woman invites the partner to love in a beautiful place. Iam, dulcis amica, venito , 11 the oldest surviving love song from the Middle Ages, is also in this tradition. 12 In the first stanzas, a man invites his beloved to his room, where all kinds of comforts await her. Then the two have a conversation about the actual consummation of love. It is already uncertain whether Marlowe was really inspired by one of the works mentioned above. Even more questionable is the connection between the poem and three other sources that are readily mentioned. These are Idyll XI by Theocritus, Virgil’s Eclogue 2 and January from Edmund Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender . 13

Interpretations of this poem vary widely. Marlowe creates a carpe diem philosophy that designs a timeless world for lovers to enter through the passage to sensual pleasures. 14 At the beginning, a locus amoenus is created. In the following three stanzas, parts of this landscape are transformed into clothing for specific parts of the female body, where 15 "[…] each element building on the richness of the previous enticement, […] functions as a rhetorical version of the sexual act;" 16 The view of Louis H. Leiter is far more idealised, who believes that the speaker transforms the beloved into a Flora Venus goddess with these garments. 17 The materials Marlowe lists in the process surprise the reader. Gold, coral and amber are atypical of the simple rural life of the shepherds. 18 Although the poem is readily attributed to the pastoral, and the title it has borne since 1600 suggests as much, it is not clear from the text who is issuing the invitation. In fact, one person only promises another that the shepherds will entertain them with songs and dances. The person speaking does not seem to belong to this group, but is likely to have a higher social status, since he has access to gifts that are denied to the other person. 19 Actually, the gender of these persons is already unknown. This in no way stops Bruce R. Smith from claiming that the poem "[…] atempts to seduce the beloved – and us as readers – with promises of a homoerotic idyll […]". 20 Some consider the abundance of promises coupled with the silence of the person concerned as harassment, if not rape. 21 Patrick Cheney goes far beyond this, for whom the poem also has a political and philosophical meaning. 22

The poem was enormously popular from the beginning. Between 1599 and 1770 it appeared in no fewer than 22 works or new editions. Emily Carroll Bartels and Emmy Smith compare its effects on the cultural scene of the time to a pop hit that was the soundtrack of an entire generation. 23 The earliest paraphrase may be found in Robert Greene’s Menaphone (1589). 24

"there growes the cintfoyle, and the hyacinth, the cowſloppe, the primroſe, and the violet, which my flockes ſliall ſpare for flowers to make thee garlands, the milke of my ewes ſhall be meate for thy pretie wanton, the wool of the fat weathers that ſeemes as fine as the fleece that Iaſon fet from Colchos , ſhall ſerue to make Samela webbes withall; the mountaine tops ſhall be thy mornings walke, and the ſhadie valleies thy euenings arbour : as much as Menaphon owes ſhall be at Samelas command, if ſhe like to liue with Menaphon ." 25

On stage in 1597, it was Shakespea re who quoted Marlowe almost verbatim, having Sir Hugh Evans sing excerpts of the poem in The Merry Wives of Windsor (III, 1) . The text of the quarto edition differs from that in the folio edition. 26

In England’s Helicon Marlowe’s poem is followed by The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd , for which Flasket gave no author, but which has since been attributed to Walter Raleigh . A variation of the first stanza had already appeared in the Passionate Pilgrim under the heading "Loves’s Answer". The Nymph’s Reply uses the same metre as The Passionate Shepherd , but turns the shepherd’s offerings into a negative.

The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd If all the world and love were young, And truth in every Shepherd’s tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move, To live with thee, and be thy love. Time drives the flocks from field to fold, When Rivers rage and Rocks grow cold, And Philomel becometh dumb, The rest complains of cares to come. The flowers do fade, and wanton fields, To wayward winter reckoning yields, A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of Roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten: In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw and Ivy buds, The Coral clasps and amber studs, All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love. But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee, and be thy love. 27

In The Bait (1597), John Donne has a fisherman compare his beloved to a bait that no fish can resist.

The Bait Come live with me, and be my love, And we will some new pleasures prove Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lines, and silver hooks. There will the river whispering run Warm’d by thy eyes, more than the sun; And there the 'enamour’d fish will stay, Begging themselves they may betray. When thou wilt swim in that live bath, Each fish, which every channel hath, Will amorously to thee swim, Gladder to catch thee, than thou him. If thou, to be so seen, be’st loth, By sun or moon, thou dark’nest both, And if myself have leave to see, I need not their light having thee. Let others freeze with angling reeds, And cut their legs with shells and weeds, Or treacherously poor fish beset, With strangling snare, or windowy net. Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest The bedded fish in banks out-wrest; Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies, Bewitch poor fishes' wand’ring eyes. For thee, thou need’st no such deceit, For thou thyself art thine own bait: That fish, that is not catch’d thereby, Alas, is wiser far than I. 28

Over the centuries, The Passionate Shepherd has been one of the most imitated poems in English literature. 29 For Algernon Swinburne it was a lyrical masterpiece: "One of the most faultless lyrics and one of the loveliest fragments in the whole range of descriptive and fanciful poetry […]" 30 Authors who reflect on it include, for example John Lyly, Michael Drayton, Thomas Lodge, George Chapman , Ben Jonson , Thomas Campion, John Milton, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson 31 or William Faulkner 32 . This makes: "'The Passionate Shepherd' […] the first, the bestknown, and the most influential invitation poem in English." 33

Pictorial representations clearly associated with The Passionate Shepherd did not exist for a long time. Andrew Lang had it illustrated in his anthology The Blue Poetry Book by Henry Justice Ford or Lancelot Speed. The engraving, however, gives the impression that the shepherd would rather scare his beloved with the promises.

Lang, A. (Ed.). (1891). The Blue Poetry Book. London: Longmans, Green & Co. p. 136

The chosen one reacts differently in the portrayal of Paul Coker Jr, who drew the passionate shepherd for Frank Jacob’s Great Poems Rewritten to Reflect the Freaky, Greedy, Rotten World of Today .

Jacobs, F. (1976). Great Poems Rewritten to Reflect the Freaky, Greedy, Rotten World of Today. MAD, 181, s. p.

The poem also quickly became popular in music. William Corkine published practice pieces for the lyra viol, an English variant of the bass viol, in the appendix of his Second Booke of Ayres in 1612. In one of these exercises, the first line of Marlowe’s poem is in the text. First of all, this reveals an interesting biographical detail. The composer’s father was William Corkine , with whom Marlowe had had a heated argument in Canterbur y in 1593, including legal repercussions.

Corkine, William (1612): The Second Book of Ayres. London: M.L.I.B and T.S.

Presumably Corkine was not the first to set the poem to music. According to the anonymous tract Laugh and lie downe: or, The worldes Folly of 1605, it is said to have been sung to the tune of Adew, my deere . If this still exists, then under a different name. 34 In the Shakespeare edition by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens, in the annotation on the use of the poem in The Merry Wives of Windsor , a melody is printed about which the music historian Sir John Hawkins wrote: "This tune to which the former was sung, I have lately discovered in a MS. as old as Shakespeare’s time, […]" 35

Shakespeare, William (1778): The Plays of William Shakspeare in Ten Volumes. 2nd edition. Edited by Samuel Johnson, George Steevens. London (1).

Unfortunately, Hawkins did not reveal more about this and the manuscript mentioned has never been found. 36 Thus, Corkine’s composition remains the earliest known setting of The Passionate Shepherd . This melody was a great success. Between 1619 and 1629 Thomas Symcock printed a so-called "Broadside ballad". (These were cheaply produced leaflets showing ballads or poems usually in combination with pictures). It is entitled A most excellent Ditty of the / Louers promises to his beloved and was sung to "To a sweet new tune called, / Live with me and be my Love". The text is in two columns. Under the picture of a man is Marlowe’s poem. Next to it, under the image of the woman, Raleigh’s response to be sung to the same tune. This is likely to have happened in practice. Izaak Walton describes how a milkmaid sings a song in The Compleat Angler of 1653: "it was that smooth song which was made by Kit Marlow, now at last fifty years ago." 37 and her mother replied singing The Nymph’s Reply .

Symcock, T. Broadside Ballad. British Library, Roxburghe 1.205, EBBA 30141(4)

However, the melody was not reserved for these two poems alone, but was also used for numerous other ballads. 38 Since the 17th century, Corkine’s composition has been continuously rearranged or Marlowe’s poem set to music. Yet it enjoys particular popularity in choral literature. The following list makes absolutely no claim to completeness, but offers only a general overview of the settings of the last centuries.

Théophile-Jules-Henri Marzial’s composition is worth mentioning primarily because of his collaboration with the painter Walter Crane.

Marzials, T. (Ed.). (1883). Pan Pipes: A Book of Old Songs. London: Routledge. p, 9

John Liptrot Hatton’s melody was used for the opening music of the movie Come Live With Me , starring Hedy Lamarr and James Stewart. 39 Trevor Jones' setting is part of the score of Richard II I with Ian McKellen. The action is set in a 1930s England, which is why the song that Stacey Kent sings at the beginning of the film is musically based on that period. 40 Annie Lennox sang Michael Kamen’s composition for the CD When Love Speakes , which otherwise contains exclusively recitations and settings of William Shakespeare’s works.

Translations

The poem is unknown in German-speaking countries. Only the beginning of Heinrich Heine’s Tragödie (1844) reminds us of it: 41

"Entflieh mit mir und sei mein Weib, Und ruh an meinem Herzen aus;" 42

The only translation I have been able to find so far is by Walter A. Aue and is unlikely to have appeared in print. 43

Come Live With Me. Living the History of a Ballad

• Marlowe (2006) , 159 ↩︎
• Marlowe (2006) , 158-159 ↩︎
• Forsythe (1925) ↩︎
• Dido, Queen of Carthage . I,1 ↩︎
• Dido, Queen of Carthage . I,4 ↩︎
• The Jew of Malta . III,2,99-109 ↩︎
• Bruster (1991) ↩︎
• Gray (2013) ↩︎
• Pollmann (1962) ↩︎
• Haug (2007) ↩︎
• Cheney (2015) ↩︎
• Cheney (2006) ↩︎
• Bruster (1991) , 52 ↩︎
• Leiter (1966) ↩︎
• Zlateva (2012) ↩︎
• Huth (2011) ↩︎
• Smith (1994) , 93 ↩︎
• Smith (1994) ; G. E. Brown (2004) ↩︎
• Cheney (1998) ; Cheney (2015) ; Cheney (2006) ↩︎
• Bartels and Smith (2013) ↩︎
• Greene (1881-1883) , 58 ↩︎
• Sternfeld and Chan (1970) ↩︎
• Barnet, Cain, and Burto (2011) , 720 ↩︎
• Barnet, Cain, and Burto (2011) , 721 ↩︎
• Swinburne (1908) , 13 ↩︎
• Forsythe (1925) ; Bruster (1991) ↩︎
• Kirchdorfer (2014) ↩︎
• Gray (2013) , 377 ↩︎
• Simppson (1966) ↩︎
• Shakespeare (1778) ↩︎
• Walton (1824) , 153 ↩︎
• Chappell (s.a.) ↩︎
• C. Brown (1941) ↩︎
• Loncraine (1995) ↩︎
• Edgecombe (2004) ↩︎
• Heine (1972) , 279 ↩︎
• Marlowe (Jun. 2010) ↩︎

Comments are closed.

• Dido, Queen of Carthage
• Doctor Faustus
• Jew of Malta
• Massacre at Paris
• Tamburlaine 1
• Tamburlaine 2
• Hero and Leander
• The Passionate Shepherd
• Translation
• Dramatis personae
• Mythography
• Christopher Marlowe in the German-speaking world
• Christopher Marlowe in Music
• Bibliography
• Tamburlaine
• The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
• World Picture
• Concordance

Type of Literature

• Compilation
• Contribution
• Newspaper Article

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Poetry is the type of art which people admire. Reading poetry, people relax, they begin to think about something high and what is never of their interest. There are a lot of topics which are present in the poems of different writers. That can be love and hatred, peace and war, nature, politics and just people, who are described from different point of view. Poets usually show their attitude to this or that event in their writings. Poems about love are the most influential, reading them you feel as if also in love and your heart may be filled with warm feelings.

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” is the poem by Christopher Marlowe which deals with the love of a shepherd to a girl, who is the best for him and he promises to dance for her to his friends. Reading the poem it seems that the shepherd tries to show us that people should admire the moment they live in without thinking about future. The main idea is that the future will be later and if a person feels happy now, he/she should live only in this moment without thinking about consequences and leave the problems for tomorrow.

The poem makes me think that love is the main thing in life. The boy, who loves his girl, never asks for long relations, there is no even talk about the future and this confirms that the poem has neither historical nor time borders. At the same time it may push to the opinion that the shepherd do not want to think about the future, he thinks only about present time, present entertainments. He asks his love to come with him, to love him at that very moment. At the same time, there is no any confirmationthat the shepherd loves her. It is the impression that it is only sexual attraction and nothing more. He just wants to possess her, to stay with her alone and take sexual enjoyment from her. This is the reason why there is no long-term promise, as the shepherd is not in love, he just want to entertain the girl he likes.

The promises which he gives to the girl, if she accepts his love, are impossible to do but these promises are great and it is impossible to resist and to refuse from such beautiful offer. The very title of the poem “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” shows that there is no any love, just passion. In general, it is passion that pushes people to crazy actions to win the love of the girl. The rural surroundings make the whole situation. It is not idle that the author had chosen the village but not the city. Rural boys and girls are more trustful and simpler, they do not need expensive presents and crazy actions, they just want to listen to the beautiful words, to be admired and worshiped.

The main peculiarity of the poem is that there is no girl there. The whole poem is like a monologue of the boy to his love. He reader never knows what the girl’s answer was. The reader also knows neither her attitude to him nor the development of their relations. The information about the girl comes from the shepherd. The poem is like the piece from some play where the shepherd falls in love from the first sight and under the impression and filled with the emotions and passion turns to his object of admiring. Reading the play till the end you want to get some response, you wait for the answer which never comes.

“Come with me and be my love” is the line which is repeated three times during the poem. And this stylistic device proves one more time that the boy’s intentions are not love but sexual entertainment. The shepherd intentions are great and at the end of its reading there is no any other answer than “yes”, but as it was said above, we do not know the answer. Shepherd tells about his love so emotionally that it is impossible for the writer to avoid the exaggerations which were discussed above when the impossible actions were mentioned.

The poem about love cannot be written with simple words so the “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe is also full of metaphors and epithets, which make the poem more vivid and colorful.

In conclusion it could be said that the poem is full of positive emotions and the optimism which is seen there is handled to the reader. The poem seems to be about love, but in general it is about shepherd’s passion and desire to entertain one or two days without any responsibility and long-term relations. The boy is ready to tell any words, to promise everything if only the girl will accept his offer. The poem is like a monologue, or if to consider it as a dialogue, so it is as if the part of some play about love and the girl’s response is omitted.

• Shakespeare’s, Milton’s and Marlowe’s Views on Villains
• Symbols in Marlowe’s “Faustus” and Milton’s “Paradise Lost”
• Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus" and Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
• We Wear the Mask by Dunbar and Crusoe’s Journal by Walcott
• “Miller’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer
• The Properties of Memory in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" by Sherman Alexie
• "Carpe Diem" in the Poems
• "Ante-Bellum Sermon" the Poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, November 6). "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love-by-christopher-marlowe/

""The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe." IvyPanda , 6 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love-by-christopher-marlowe/.

IvyPanda . (2021) '"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe'. 6 November.

IvyPanda . 2021. ""The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe." November 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love-by-christopher-marlowe/.

1. IvyPanda . ""The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe." November 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love-by-christopher-marlowe/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe." November 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-passionate-shepherd-to-his-love-by-christopher-marlowe/.