The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

 

COME live with me and be my Love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

That hills and valleys, dale and field,

And all the craggy mountains yield.

 

There will we sit upon the rocks

And see the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers, to whose falls

Melodious birds sing madrigals.

 

There will I make thee beds of roses

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,

Fair linèd 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.

 

Thy silver dishes for thy meat

As precious as the gods do 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 may move,

Then live with me and be my Love.

 

 

Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd
by Walter Raleigh (1554 –1618)

 

If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.

Time drives the flocks from field to fold
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold,
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields;
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring but sorrow's fall.

Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten, -
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.

 

 

The Bait

by John Donne (1572 –1631)

Come live with me, and be my love,

And we will some new pleasures prove

Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,

With silken lines, and silver hooks.

There will the river whispering run

Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;

And there the 'enamour'd fish will stay,

Begging themselves they may betray.

When thou wilt swim in that live bath,

Each fish, which every channel hath,

Will amorously to thee swim,

Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.

If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,

By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,

And if myself have leave to see,

I need not their light having thee.

Let others freeze with angling reeds,

And cut their legs with shells and weeds,

Or treacherously poor fish beset,

With strangling snare, or windowy net.

Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest

The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;

Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,

Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.

For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,

For thou thyself art thine own bait:

That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,

Alas, is wiser far than I.

 

 

Come live with me

by Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

Come, live with me and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove

Of peace and plenty, bed and board,

That chance employment may afford.

I'll handle dainties on the docks

And thou shalt read of summer frocks:

At evening by the sour canals

We'll hope to hear some madrigals.

Care on thy maiden brow shall put

A wreath of wrinkles, and thy foot

Be shod with pain: not silken dress

But toil shall tire thy loveliness.

Hunger shall make thy modest zone

And cheat fond death of all but bone -

If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me and be my love.

 

 

Come Live With Me And Be My Love

by Eddy Arnold

 

Come live with me and be my love
Come fullfill the dreams my heart's dreaming of
While the turtle dove calls to the mist as Aparil rain falls
Oh come live with me and be my love

Come take my hand and walk with me
Unafraid to face whatever may be
While the wildwoods murmur with the sweetest wind songs of summer
Oh come live with me and be my love

And say to me autumn leaves turned to gold
Stay and hold me in your arms when the world is cold

Come stand with me and be my love
While the candle shine and bells ring above
And forsake me never could be my love forever
Oh come live with me and be my love