Summary

The Passionate Shepherd” is a poem of seduction. In it, the speaker tries to convince his listener to come to the country and be his lover. The speaker makes his case on the basis of the luxuries they will enjoy together in the countryside, describing it as a place of pleasure that is at once sensual and innocent. He wants his “love” to simply sit on the rocks for a while and appreciate the scene, without worrying about their responsibilities. Although the joys the speaker describes may be fleeting, they are still rich and seductive. Listing them, the speaker makes a case for embracing the pure pleasure of love and rejects the idea that doing so might have negative consequences. For the speaker, the countryside is a very sensual place. He is attentive to the materials and objects one finds in rural life: “straw,” “ivy-buds,” “beds of roses,” and “fragrant posies.” In his fantasy, he brings these objects into contact with the body of his “love”—making them into garments and beds. The fact that the speaker uses these objects in a suggestive fashion implies his underlying desire: he seems to want to take their place and caress his “love,” to pay close and sensual attention to the lover’s body.