A Romantic Reading Of The Passionate Shepherd to His Love By Christopher Marlowe
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.
This paper will be adopting a Romantic reading of the poem “The Shepherd To His Love” by Marlowe. Romanticism was a movement that originated in the late 18th that encouraged the irrational, imaginative, and visionary.
Romanticism had two branches. The Dark Romantics, also known as Gothic Fiction and Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophy started in the early 19th century that encouraged the individual, creative, divine nature and innate spirit.
The paper will tackle four of the main themes of Romanticism as a whole;
- Solitary life rather than life in society,
- Awe of nature,
- Strong senses, emotions, and feelings; and
- Imaginative Power.
We can trace the solitary life rather than societal feature in;
“Come live with me… That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields… make thee beds of Roses
… A gown made of the finest wool… Fair lined slippers for the cold,… A belt of straw and Ivy buds… If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.
…”
As the speaker is offering different aspects of the solitary life they can live with their love away from society’s prying eyes on the valleys and hills.
Thus, paving the way for the second feature of appreciating nature;
“And we will all the pleasures prove… 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.
… 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.”
Using the words ‘delights’ and ‘pleasures’ assumes how highly the speaker believes their offer to be to live in nature away from society and enjoy all nature can offer them and their beloved.
The use of ‘be my love’ three times throughout the poem shows strong emotions and feelings that are expressed in how vividly the speaker is trying to make his offer for their love to accept and join them in solitary away from society.
Such vividness can be tracked down in the sensory language;
“sit upon the Rocks,
Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks… Melodious birds sing Madrigals… Fair lined slippers for the cold,… The Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing…”
Where the speaker evokes the sense of movement in ‘sit’ and ‘dance’; sound in ‘melodies’ and ‘sing’; and the sense of the ‘cold.’
In the end, it is clear to see that the poet is quite the romantic who is desperately trying to make an offer for their love to join them in solitary life surrounded by all nature has to offer without being too desperate as the poet phrases it as an offer of ‘delights’ and ‘pleasures.’
