A Precritical Analysis of the PoemThe Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Marlowe

趙亞軍

【Abstract】This article give a precritical analysis of the poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love which was written by Marlowe.

【Key words】Precriticical； Analysis； poem

Poetry， like any other forms of art is the poets reflection on what they see and what they hear. In “The passionate shepherd to His Love”， Marlowe spoke with a voice so innocent that it would be very easy for us to feel the strong emotion which is conveyed through the beauty of nature where lovers are not disturbed by worldly concern. And this short poem is considered to be one of the most beautiful lyrics in English literature.

This poem was written in the 16th century. At that time， marlowes soul was surging with the ideals of the Renaissance. And he believed that the world he inhabited was his not to despise but to question， explore， and enjoy. Driven by his beliefs， he draws a pastoral picture in this poem in which the shepherd enjoys an ideal country life， cherishing a pastoral and pure affection for his love.

This poem consists of three sections. In each section we can get the sentence， “Come live with me and be my love.” In section one （the first two stanzas） it used as an opening sentence which sincerely and directly tells us the will of the hero and set the scenes and basic tone at the beginning. In section two （stanzas3-5） it served as a transitional sentence to connect the whole poem naturally. When reappearing， it coheres with the others. So we can say the structure of this poem is very tight， full and coherent. And the plot is very simple and uncomplicated. The key words we， I， and move that agree with the subject and verb pass through the whole poem. And they make it easy to understand the poem. Moreover， Marlowe in his poem provides us the same syllables in each two lines. For instance， love and prove； fields and yields that make the reading of sound being pleasant to the ears. Thats why poetry is the marrow of language.

To survey Marlowes poem in a comprehensive way， we could draw a general idea of an unusual style that is sincere and brief. There is always one sentence to express his idea in direct way. His poem exhibits to people a picture of nature. That is to say he didnt use the injecting way， but leave a lot of space for the readers to meditate. The more you digest， the more you will get. In addition， the words are very beautiful and colorful. White sheep， red roses， green leaves， gold buckles， coral clasps， amber studs and fragrance of flowers all satisfy our eyes and ears. Madrigals， myrtle and buds build us a peaceful， loveable and mild atmosphere. Whats more， symbolization and hyperbole are handled very skillfully in this poem. Rose suggests love and the beauty of shepherds lover. Myrtle and ivy suggest the tree of love should be green forever. Poetic energy and intensity covered through the lines of “I will make thee beds of roses and a thousand fragrant posies…” All in all， Marlowe used nearly spoken language to express his feelings from which we can easily sense the waves of his overwhelming emotion.

Nature and love are eternal theme in literature. In marlowes poem， nature is endowed with life and he wants to merge with it. This gives an exquisite beauty to his poem on nature. Flowers， trees， mountains are not only personified but also inspirited and spiritualized. It seems that nature exists as an unseen life of the universe and our love of nature is almost boundless.

As we know Marlowe brought vitality and grandeur into the blank verse with his “mighty lines”， which carry strong emotions. His passionate love of nature is but an expression of his eager aspiration for something free from the squalor of real life. So in my point， enjoying the beauty of nature with your lover will be the happiest thing in the world. Dont you think so？

References：

[1]英美文學選讀.