A shepherd, bursting with desire, tries to woo his love by describing the perfect life they could share in the countryside. He speaks directly to her, his voice full of urgent affection, as he lists the delights waiting for them: sitting on rocks watching flocks, listening to birds sing by the river, reclining on beds of roses and posies. He promises to dress her in flowers, fine wool, and slippers with gold buckles — gifts pulled from an idyllic natural world where even the belt is made of straw, ivy, coral, and amber. The mood is dreamy and seductive, a vision of endless May mornings and shepherds dancing. Everything feels radiant and tender, but there’s also an innocence in his exaggeration — this isn’t a realistic proposal, but the giddy language of someone completely captivated. The repeated line “Come live with me, and be my love” becomes a gentle, hopeful refrain, inviting her into his imagined paradise.
The Passionate Shepherd To His Love — Summary
Come live with me, and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That hills and valleys, dales and fields, And all the craggy mountain yields.
There we will sit upon the rocks, And see the shepherds feed their flocks By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses, With 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.