poem analysis?

Question

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 can afford.

I'll handle dainties on the docks
And thou shalt read of summer frocks:
At evening by the sour canals
We'll hope to hear some madrigals.

Care on the 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 by my love.
-C. Day Lewis





I read this poem many times and still don't understand it, he's explaining how he wants to be with her but he says things like sour canals and hunger shall make thy modest zone. Can someone explain what he's trying to do please?

Answer 1

It's a satire of a poem by Christopher Marlowe called the Passionate Shepherd to His Love. (See below)

My own feeling is that he is satirizing the way the Shepherd in Marlowe's poem portrays the country life of a shepherd as so pleasant and carefree, when in reality it is harsh and difficult like in C. Day Lewis's description. I think he's trying to be honest (admitting that their life together will be hard), whereas the shepherd in Marlowe's poem is trying to be dishonest in order to seduce the nymph.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
by Christopher Marlowe
1599
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 flower, 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 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.

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.

Answer 2

Almost any good poem can be used. If you're familiar with poetry, then pick one you enjoy and are comfortable with. It should also be a poem you think you understand fairly well. For instance, if I had this assignment, I wouldn't use a poem by Wallace Stevens, although I like Stevens, because I don't understand most of his work. I would pick a work from another poet I enjoy, such as Auden's "The Truest Poetry is the Most Feigning" or "The Shield of Achilles", or perhaps Tennyson's "Ulysses". Any of those would be a good choice, but there are a thousand other good choices - it's just a matter of what you're comfortable with.

Answer 3

well he is saying he would love her through all the troubles this life has to offer even death. Through all the wrinkles and the the sour (bad nights) canals. he will never leave her even in death. love the poem.

Answer 4

Sounds pretty much like what Eve went through as described from an artist point of view.

Answer 5

He's actually asking her to die with him or to spend eternity with him in his grave while they be together physically, they will live forever together in spirit...

Answer 6

Why do we love people?

Answer 7

I like it. I thing he is asking her not to upchuck in his car. We have all been there.

Answer 8

ture poetry is to be interpreted by the reader's opinion and to be not taken literally!

Answer 9

he is saying he is gay and accepts it.