What is the theme of “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love” ?
lit24 Teacher Doctorate eNotes Editor Christopher Marlowe’s (1564-1593) pastoral love lyric “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love” is believed to have been written in 1588 when he was a student at Cambridge. It was published posthumously in 1599. The poem is the “passionate” appeal of a young shepherd to his beloved lady love “to come and live with him.” It is not a marriage proposal but an overt appeal by the shepherd requesting her to spend some time with him so that he can use her as a means of satisfying his desire for passionate sex with her. The tone of the poem is both idealistic and idyllic. The shepherd lists out only the pleasures and not the drawbacks or dangers of a pastoral life to tempt her into accepting his offer. In the first stanza he describes the places in a very romantic manner where they could make love: COME live with me and be my Love, /And we will all the pleasures prove /That hills and valleys, dale and field, /And all the craggy mountains yield. In the second
lit24 Teacher Doctorate Editor Expert $(document).ready(function() { $(‘a.toggle_expert_titles’).click(function() { $(‘#show_expert_titles’).toggle(); return false; }); }); Christopher Marlowe’s (1564-1593) pastoral love lyric “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love” is believed to have been written in 1588 when he was a student at Cambridge. It was published posthumously in 1599. The poem is the “passionate” appeal of a young shepherd to his beloved lady love “to come and live with him.” It is not a marriage proposal but an overt appeal by the shepherd requesting her to spend some time with him so that he can use her as a means of satisfying his desire for passionate sex with her. The tone of the poem is both idealistic and idyllic. The shepherd lists out only the pleasures and not the drawbacks or dangers of a pastoral life to tempt her into accepting his offer. In the first stanza he describes the places in a very romantic manner where they could make love: COME live with me and be my
