Come live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures prove That [hills and valleys, dale and field]1, [And all the craggy mountains yield]2. [There will we]3 sit upon the rocks [And see]4 the shepherds feed their flocks, [By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals]5.6 There will I make thee beds of roses [And]7 a thousand fragrant posies, [A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.]5 A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull, Fair linèd slippers for the cold, [With]8 buckles of the purest gold. A [belt]9 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:]5 If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my Love.
W. Bennett sets stanzas 1-3, 7
H. Bishop sets stanzas 1-2, 7
W. Mayer sets stanzas 1-2, 7
J. von Dalberg sets stanzas 1, 2, 7
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Golden Treasury, Francis T. Palgrave, ed., 1875.
See Raleigh's famous response, The nymph's reply to the shepherd.
See also the parody by Archibald Stodart-Walker.
1 Bennett, Bishop, Goldmark: "hill and valley, dale and field" ; Mayer: "valleys, groves, hills, and fields"2 Mayer: "Woods, or steepy mountain yields"
3 Goldmark: "There we shall"; Mayer: "And we will"
4 Goldmark: "And watch"; Mayer: "Seeing"
5 omitted by Bishop.
6 Bennett inserts here "And if these pleasures may thee move,/ Then live with me and be my love." (from later in the poem)
7 Bennett, Bishop: "With"
8 Goldmark: "And"
9 Goldmark: "bed"
Authorship:
- by Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593), "The passionate shepherd to his love", written 1580-1592? [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Sterndale Bennett (1816 - 1875), "Come live with me", 1846, stanzas 1-3,7 [ chorus ], partsong [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Henry Rowley Bishop (1785 - 1855), "Come live with me", stanzas 1-2,7 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alan Bullard (b. 1947), "Come live with me and be my love", 1981 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Friedrich Hugo, Freiherr von Dalberg (1760 - 1812), "Come Live with Me and Be My Love", op. 15 no. 2, stanzas 1,2,7, from Three English Songs and a Glee with an Accompaniment for the Pianoforte, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rubin Goldmark (1872 - 1936), "The passionate shepherd to his love" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by William Mayer (b. 1925), "The passionate shepherd to his love", stanzas 1-2,7 [ satb chorus a cappella ], from Four Madrigals, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Norman Houston O'Neill (1875 - 1934), "Come live with me and be my Love" [ voice and orchestra ], from Shakespeare Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Myron Silberstein (b. 1975), "Come Live With Me and Be My Love", 2016, from No Life But This, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Mabel Nightingale Woodward (1876 - 1911), "The passionate shepherd to his love", published 1912 [ voice and piano ], from Songs, no. 12, Birmingham : Press of the Birmingham Printers [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by Vivian Fine, Ernest John Moeran, Peter Warlock, Samuel Webbe.
Another version of this text exists in the database.
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, adapted by Cecil Day Lewis (1904 - 1972) , "Come, live with me and be my love", a parody [an adaptation] ; composed by Edward Gregson.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Der feurige Schäfer zu seiner Liebsten", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Der Schäfer an sein Lieb"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 185
Komm, lebe bei mir, sey mein Lieb, Und allen Freuden hin dich gieb, Die Thal und Hügel, Feld und Flur Und Felsenberge bieten nur! Dort wollen wir auf Klippen stehn, Die Schäfer Heerden hüten sehn, Am Bach, erschallt zum Wasserfall Tonreicher Vöglein Madrigal! Ich mache dort dir Rosenbettchen, Mit tausend duftigen Bouquetchen, Ein Blumenhäubchen, einen Latz Mit reichem Myrthenlaubbesatz! Gewand aus Wolle, weich und fein, Die wir entrupft den Lämmelein, Schuh', die ich warm dir füttern wollt', Mit Schnallen d'ran von laut'rem Gold. Den Gurt von Stroh und Eibenschoß, Mit Ambraknopf, Korallenschloß. Regt solche Freude dir den Trieb, Dann lebe bei mir, sey mein Lieb! Dich soll der Schäfer Sang und Tanz Ergötzen beim Maimorgenglanz! Regt solches dir des Busens Trieb, Dann lebe bei mir, sey mein Lieb!
Confirmed with Alt-englische und schottische Dichtungen der Percyschen Sammlung übersetzt von Adolph von Marées (1801 -1874), Berlin, Druck und Verlag von Georg Reimer, 1857.
Authorship:
- by Adolf von Marées (1801 - 1874), "Der Schäfer an sein Lieb" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593), "The passionate shepherd to his love", written 1580-1592?
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Volkmar Henschel
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-19
Line count: 24
Word count: 128