Student Question
In "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," what action does the speaker urge his love to take?
Quick answer:
In "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," the speaker urges his beloved to "come live with me and be my love." He entices her with an idealized vision of rural life, promising the pleasures of nature, a luxurious wardrobe, and delightful entertainment. Through vivid imagery of natural beauty and gifts, the speaker seeks to persuade his love to join him in this idyllic existence, though the poem leaves their decision uncertain.
"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe is written in what is called the pastoral style. This was a style of poetry quite common in Marlowe's day, a style that presented an idealized view of rural life, an idyll usually populated by satyrs, dryads, cavorting nymphs, and other lesser deities of Greek and Roman mythology.
In the first line, the speaker invites his lover to
Come live with me and be my love
He goes on to present the object of his affections with a sumptuous visual feast of natural beauty that he hopes will entice her to come and live with him:
And we will all the pleasures prove,That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And I will make thee beds of RosesAnd a thousand fragrant posies,A cap of flowers, and a kirtleEmbroidered all with leaves of Myrtle
It all sounds quite heavenly. But the narrator still feels that he needs to seal the deal: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
So there we are. There is an offer of ravishing natural beauty, the most divine new wardrobe imaginable, and the sweet, harmonious tones of shepherds' panpipes as the couple dances delightfully, basking in the warm, radiant glow of Maytime dawn. This is the sublime Arcadian vision set before the speaker's lover. But despite Marlowe's best efforts we are still far from certain as to whether or not his beloved will accept this tempting offer. For one thing, we don't anything about her, or what kind of world she'd like to inhabit. Maybe she is a nymph, and doesn't want to spend time with a mortal swain whose looks will one day fade. This is what Sir Walter Raleigh suggests in his classic rejoinder, "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd." Unless we get the lady lover's side of the story, then we will remain uncertain as to what will happen. And it's this uncertainty that makes "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" much more than just a conventional love poem in the pastoral style.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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