Page 22 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”
by Christopher Marlowe, pages 5-6

Vocabulary
dales – valleys
melodious – musical
madrigals – a short, musical poem about love
posies – flowers
embroider’d – sewn
swains – young boys from the country

1. What, metaphorically, does the speaker want to prove in the first stanza?

The speaker wants his Lover to join in him in proving the pleasures of love.

2. What is the purpose of the Shepherd’s poem?

The shepherd is trying to woo his love by promising her walks in nature, fine clothing, and
a life filled with happiness.

3. What is the literary term for the phrase “coral clasps”?

The repetition of the ‘c’ sound is called consonance.

4. Why has Marlowe capitalized “Love” in the first and last lines of the poem?

Answers may vary. Example: Marlowe is using the term as a proper noun and t the
capitalization suggests added importance to the shepherd.

5. This poem is written in stanzas of four lines each. What is the term for this type of stanza?

This type of stanza is called a quatrain.

T-4