THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE

                                                    CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE 1564-1593

  

 

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 shepherd 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.