The Passionate Shepherd to His Love

Marlowe wrote this poem in iambic tetrameter and used quatrains to separate his thoughts. Assonance occurs in the ending words of every line. The first and second lines rhyme, and the third and fourth lines rhyme. The shepherd is in almost a dream-like state of nature, where he is imagining him and his love spending their time together. This is the setting of the story. The persona is the shepherd and he is addressing the woman he loves. The mood and attitude of the poem is cheerful and hopeful. The shepherd is trying to persuade his love to come and live with him and be his love. The story has many concrete images, such as, "A cap of flowers and a kirtle embroidered all with leaves of myrtle" or "A belt of straw and ivy buds, with coral clasps and amber studs." The theme of the poem is that the most beautiful things in life are found in nature.