Christopher Marlowe

The Passionate Shepherd to his love

    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.
   
5   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,
10   And a thousand fragrant posies,
    A cap of flowers, and a kirtle,
    Embroider’d all with leaves of myrtle.
   
    A gown made of the finest wool
    Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
15   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,
20   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.

Robert Clark

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