sunday post: what does christopher marlowe, ian mckellen, richard iii, and stacey kent, have in common?

well a poem of christopher marlowe titled "the passionate shepherd to his love" or called "come live with me and be my love". watch the video.


marlowe of course was a contemporary of william shakespeare, so it was no surprise that ian mckellen and collaborators of his 1995 movie adaptation of shakespeare's richard the third used it as lyrics for a song sung by jazz singer stacey kent.

btw i love that adaptation, even though imo it rather unnecessarily cut good portion of admittedly long text of the play, because of its innovative wit in fitting 1930s britain into the text. who could forget, among other things, how the line "my kingdom for a horse" was adapted.

i got to shakespeare through richard iii. when i was a teenager my curiosity was aroused while reading robert louis stevenson's the black arrow (which like shakespeare is historically inaccurate about richard and openly admits to it). so began to read shakespeare's richard iii and then other plays. anyway i think teenage boys will like that route to shakespeare. lot of gore that way :-) .

and i love stacey kent as followers of my twitter will know. i first got to know her singing through this movie.

here is the full text of the poem "the passionate shepherd to his love" by 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.

you may find
text of richard iii here
screenplay of the film here
a interactive conversation with ian mckellen about film and play here

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