"Come live with me..."- Christopher Marlowe / C.S. Lewis

Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" has been a staple of love poetry since it's debut around 1598.  What is less well-known is C.S. Lewis' (yes, of the Narnia Chronicles) modern-day reply deflating the original's lofty and flowery declaration with a dose of reality.  Below is Marlowe's original followed by Lewis' response.  (Marlowe is also a perennial candidate for being the actual author of Shakespeare's plays.)

The Passionate Shepherd To His Love  -  Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of th 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.

The shepherds’ 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.

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C.S. Lewis' reply:


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 flocks:
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.
-------------------------------------------- Which one do you prefer?