Pastoral poetry, also called bucolic (relating to pleasant parts of country life) or idyllic (happy and peaceful in an idealized way), is characterized by references to nature, usually involving shepherds and the countryside. This type of poetry is idealistic and presents an innocent and simplistic view of nature and life in the country.
Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” clearly reflects the traits of pastoral poetry. Marlowe’s speaker attempts to convince his love to be with him in the country:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove ...
The speaker gives various reasons why being with him would benefit the object of his love. He says that they will watch the shepherds tend their flocks, and sit near the rivers, and watch the birds. He promises to “make thee beds of Roses,” a gown “of the finest wool,” and slippers with gold buckles. He also says that the “Shepherds’ Swains shall dance and sing” every day just for his beloved.
However, the speaker’s arguments are quite unrealistic and unrelated to true reasons why people should be together. The argument is a simplistic one, reasoning that to be happy, people just need to sit idly enjoying nature. He does not describe a real relationship but a fantasy one, and his argument hinges on the idea that country life is all it takes to be happy. There is no mention of daily responsibilities and problems that are part of any human’s existence. Thus, Marlowe’s speaker simplifies life and innocently equates happiness with the peaceful countryside.
What is it that makes "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe an example of pastoral literature?
Pastoral literature, as described by literary critic Raymond Williams in The Country and the City, offers an "enameled" or artificial version of the natural world, one that bears little or no resemblance to reality.
Marlowe's poem is pastoral because it provides a picture of living in nature that is at odds with reality. The narrator, fancying himself a "shepherd," weaves a portrait of running off with his beloved to a natural world in which it is always spring ("May"). He tells her that in this idyllic world, "we will all the pleasures prove."
He describes a life of leisure, sitting on rocks watching the other shepherds work. He says he will make his beloved beds of roses and posies, and weave her a gown of the wool pulled from "pretty Lambs." He will make her fur-lined slippers and a belt of "Coral clasps and Amber studs."
This has nothing to do with the life of a real shepherd. The privileged "passionate shepherd" seems to have no idea of the realities of an existence in nature. This is pointed out by Sir Walter Raleigh in his poem "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd," written as a response to Marlowe's poem. Here, the shepherd's beloved nymph rejects the shepherd's gifts as false, telling him that "wayward winter" comes and that his ideas are "folly."
What is it that makes "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe an example of pastoral literature?
A major theme of pastoral literature is that true happiness can be...
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found in rural areas. The city is a bad place, but the country is pure and good. I think you can see this (at least the part about the country being good) in this poem.
Look at what the shepherd is offerring. It is all pretty much rural stuff. The only thing that doesn't sound rural is the buckles of gold for the slippers.
In general, then, the idea seems to be that the shepherd and his love can be made happy by all this rural stuff. This implies that rural life is good and satisfying.
What makes "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," by Christopher Marlowe, an example of pastoral literature?
Pastoral poems deal with nature versus society:
The pastoral is a literary style or type that presents a conventionalized picture of rural life, the naturalness and innocence of which is seen in contrast to the corruption and artificiality of city and court.
In Marlowe's poem "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," the author is trying to convince a young woman to give in to his passionate desires. There is a great deal of imagery, which is based on nature. He speaks of dressing her in clothing made of leaves, straw and buds. He is not interested in marriage, but only in a physical relationship, living among the fields and shepherds (eNotes). His writing makes it sound like there would be nothing they could want for, if she is willing to forego the marriage vows. This idealized picture fits the description of pastoral literature
What makes "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," by Christopher Marlowe, an example of pastoral literature?
Pastoral poetry is characterized by its setting and subject. Pastoral poetry is about the "pasture" or rural life in a rural setting. Usually these poems glorify the simple life and work of rural/farm/small town life, and the pleasure that comes from that kind of life. The settings are usually idealized, as is the life-style. In actuality, rural life was demanding--a never-ending list of responsibilities and duties. In this poem by Marlowe, he is idealizing the life of a shepherd. In reality, a shepherd had a very hard life--lonely, frequently out of doors in the elements, working for the owner of the sheep. Marlowe has his speaker try to convince his love to come and join him for what he claims will be a wonderful life in the country.
The poem opens with the promise that the two lovers will "all the pleasures prove," and he goes on to explain the pastoral scene, stating that they will live amongst the"hills and valleys, dales and fields" while they just sit around and listen to the "melodious birds sing madrigals." He promises her a "bed of roses" and "fragrant posies" "a gown of finest wool" and "fine slippers with buckles of the purest gold." The fact is, no shepherd can make grand promises like "buckles of purest gold"; shepherds would be some of the poorest of the workers in countryside. This is where the poem shows its pastoral quality--by glorifying the natural world and suggesting a kind of naive attitude about this life.
What details in "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" make it a pastoral poem?
Pastoral poems present an idealized vision of life in the countryside; the scenery is beautiful, the people are honest and forthright, and the fresh air is full of passionate love.
Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love," is an exellent example of this genre.
There are many references to the beautiful scenery: "hills and valleys, dale and field / and all the craggy mountains"; the lovers will sit "by shallow rivers" and listen to "melodious birds sing madrigals"; the shepherd promises to clothe his lover with roses, posies, "leaves of myrtle," and a belt of "straw and ivy buds."
The shepherd is honest and straightforward about his love. At the outset, he states his proposal: "Come live with me and be my Love." There is no "city' talk of money, of dowry, of family politics; there is only a strong, natural love that must be consummated.