Friday, March 31, 2006

Poetry Friday

Begun by Big A little a; and more poetry at Jen Robinson's Book Page and Students for Literacy Ottawa.

My contribution this week:

It's not so much that I like The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe, which I do:

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.


But I LOVE the The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh:

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.

But Time drives 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.

If you're looking to read more about Walter, there is a great book about his wife, Elizabeth Throckmorton. It gives one of the better explorations about the politics of the Tudor court, with particular regard to family: My Just Desire : The Life of Bess Raleigh, Wife to Sir Walter by Anna Beer. In reading MJD, things that I read elsewhere "clicked" to explain some of what was (and was not) happening in the Tudor court.

2 comments:

Kelly said...

Great choices, Liz! Thanks!!

Louise said...

Thanks for the mention - both in the post and in your blog roll. It's appreciated!

And I enjoyed your choices.

Louise