“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Introduction

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“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Summary

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Themes

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  Love and Pleasure

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  Country vs. City

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  The Nobility of Pastoral Work

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”

• Lines 1-4

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-12

  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;

  

  

  

  

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• 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.

  

  

  

  

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• 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.

  

  

  

  

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“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” Symbols

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  Shepherds

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  Myrtle

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  Lambs

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  Ivy

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

• Hyperbole

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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“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.

• Prove
• Steepy
• Madrigals
• Kirtle
• Pull
• Coral
• Amber
• Studs
• Swains

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

• Form

• Meter

• 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.