The Man's Interesting Characteristic About Love

The Passionate Shepherd and His Love

By Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love

And we will all the pleasure prove

That hills, and valleys, dale, and field

And all the craggy mountains yield

There we will sit upon the rocks

And see the shepherd feed their flocks

By shallow rivers, to whose falls

Melodoius birds sing madrigals

There will I make thee beds of roses

And a thousand fragrant posies

A cap of flowers, and kirtle

Embroidered all with leaves a myrtle

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty lambs we pull

Fair lined slippers for the cold

With buckle of the purest gold

A belt of straw and my ivy buds

With coral clasps and amber studs

And if these pleasures and my thee move

Come live with me and be my love

Thy silver dishes for thy meat

As precious as gods to eat

Shall on an ivory table be

Prepared each day for thee and me

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each may morning

If these delights thy mind my love

Then live with me and be my love

Christopher Marlowe was one of British poets in the Elizabethan era. He was baptized on 26 February 1564. His father, John Marlowe was a shoemaker in Canterbury, England and his mother Catherine was only a housewife. There was no information about his mother. Marlowe was accepted in The King’s School, Canterbury. He also got a scholarship to study in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1584. There were many literary works which he wrote in his lifetime. The Passionate Shepherd and His Love was his love poem which published in 1599. It used many beautiful words. Just like the title, it reflects the beauty of love. This poem shows the real character of a man known as a flatterer when he tries to seduce his beloved woman.

Flattering character of a man to his beloved woman is shown directly and clearly in every stanza in this poem. Like in the first stanza, the real character of a man starts to be seen slowly even in the first step of his efforts in getting the woman’s heart. In the man’s first effort, the poet tries to tell the reader that the man really loves the woman and starts to ask the woman to be his love. He seduces the woman by offering beautiful places as their home later like hills, valleys, dale, and fields. In those places, they will live together. The man uses this way in order to make the woman wants to become his wife.

Then, in the second stanza we also see the same way of the man’s efforts when he seduces the woman by his beautiful false flattery. In this part, the poet tells the reader that the man is explaining the woman about the beautiful scenery and bird singing that he promises. The man tells that both of them will sit on the stones while seeing the shepherd give a feed his pet. There is also the shallow river and the bird singing with full of happiness.

All of those reflect that the woman will be happy to life with the man. The man will always give enjoyments to the woman everyday. How beautiful the promise. And for the twice, the man uses beautiful words and promise to the woman.

After that, in the third stanza we can also see that the man is telling the woman a beauty of his love. In this part, the woman is told that she will get a guarantee for her better life. The man offers again the beautiful properties for the woman with a comfortable and good aroma from the flowers.

In this stanza, the man promises to the woman to make a beautiful path with flowers and comfortable condition. He will give the woman a hat which is made from flowers and also jacket that is embroidered from leaves. All of those are used to make the woman interest to the man. By those properties, the woman is hoped can be his wife.

In addition, the man continues to make the woman mesmerized by telling her the beauty that will she get. In the forth stanza, the man is told that he wants to give the woman good clothes. In his efforts, the man prepares a gown from the most beautiful wool that is made from his healthy and beautiful lambs.

Besides that, he also wants to give the woman slippers for the cold weather and also the clasp from the purest gold. The man is told that he will try to make the woman beautiful everyday. The woman will wear the most beautiful clothes from the man. And for the several times, he lets loose all of the enjoyments for the woman.

Next, in the fifth stanza we can also see the flattering character of the man. In this part, the man keeps on telling his real love for the woman. He will make a belt from the straw and from the ivy flowers. If we can imagine that, it sounds really beautiful. Beautiful jewelry is also given by him to the woman that is made from the amber studs.

Amber studs are very good. It reflects that the man wants to see the woman wearing good things on her body. He also offers the woman to live with him for the twice after the offering in the first stanza. The man says that if all of these happiness’s will change the woman’s mind to live with him, so the woman will be his love.

Then, we can still see the man’s false flattery in the sixth stanza. This is the part of the explanation of bid that the woman’s food will be fulfilled with the beautiful serving on it by the man. He offers the woman with a lot of foods where the food served on the silver plate as good as the God’s eating.

There is simile in this part like when the man said that the woman’s food will be served on the silver plate ‘AS GOOD AS the God’s eating’. He also says that the plate will be served on the ivory table. We know that how noble the God. We respect the God. And in this problem, the man will do the same serving to the woman like the God’s. Look, how very enchant the man’s promises to the woman.

After that, the last evidence about the flattering character of the man is located in the seventh stanza. It is about the last offer of the man to the woman if with all of these happiness’s the woman will love him, she will change her mind to love him so the woman should live with him and be his wife. There are the lovers of the shepherd who will entertain the woman with dancing and singing. The purpose is to make the woman happy each morning in May.

This evidence can be the last offer of the man to the woman. For the several time, he continues to offer enjoyments to the woman. And, it is the third and the last time he asks the woman to become his love.

Those are all of the evidences of the flattering character of the man. From the evidences, we can see that the man really has a flattering character when he tries to seduce a woman. It is like when we see in the real life. We often see and hear that the man tries to do anything even when he must sacrifice his riches.

Besides that, if we read carefully the poem, there is a repetition. In the first, fifth, and seventh stanza there is a line with the same sound ‘come live with me and be my love’. This sentence has been mentioned for the third. Its function is to give the poem a musical effect. If the poem has a musical effect, it will be beautiful to be heard. It is also a reflection of the man’s feeling.

This poem also uses many rhymes. The same sound is heard almost at the end of each line. For example in the line 5 and line 6 ‘rocks’ and ‘flocks’. There are also rhymes at the end of the line 11 and line 12 ‘kirtle’ and ‘myrtle’. Then, if we talk about the theme, this poem tells about a man who is trying to get a wife by offering many enjoyments for the woman’s better life.

To summarize, The Passionate Shepherd and His Love had been success to show the readers about the flattering character of a man to his beloved woman. Marlowe used many rhymes in this poem. It makes the poem sounds interesting to read. He also used repetition. In the result, the poem has a musical effect which adds the beauty of the poem. About the poem, the man in the poem does the same thing when he tries to get a woman’s heart like a man in the real life. He offers many kinds of enjoyments for the woman’s better life. Sometimes it sounds very copious. But, that is the fact. That is the characteristic of a man. About love, he is a good flatterer in a poem or in the world.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passionate_Shepherd_to_His_Love