Come live with me

General information

The passionate shepherd to his love, by Christopher Marlowe; spelling modernised and other minor alterations.

Notes on selected settings

• Thomas Arne Solo high, (vv. 1,3,5,6)
• William Sterndale Bennett SATB (vv.1-3 & 6, with craggy replacing the original steepy in v. 1)
• John Liptrot Hatton SATB (vv.1-3 & 6)
• John Kilpatrick SATB divisi, (vv. 1-5, with craggy replacing the original steepy in v. 1)
• James Oswald Solo high, (vv. 1,2,4,6 with craggy replacing the original steepy in v. 1)
• Roger Teichmann SATB
• Samuel Webbe SATB, (vv. 1,3,5-6. Text variants shown in [])

Settings by composers (automatically updated)

• Thomas Arne — Come live with me  English solo high
• William Sterndale Bennett — Come live with me  English SATB
• John Liptrot Hatton — Come live with me  English SATB
• John Kilpatrick — Come live with me  English SATB
• James Oswald — Come live with me  English solo high
• Roger Teichmann — The Passionate Shepherd  English SATB
• Samuel Webbe — Come live with me  English ATTB,TTTB

Text and translations

English text 1  Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove, That hills and valleys, dales and fields, [That grove and valley, hill and field] And all the steepy mountain yields. [Or woods and steepy mountains yield.] 2  There will we sit upon the rocks And see the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. 3  There will I make thee beds of roses And [twine] a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle [rural kirtle] Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle. 4  A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull, Fair linèd slippers for the cold, With buckles of the purest gold. 5  A belt of straw and ivy buds With coral clasps and amber studs: [A coral clasp…] And if these pleasures may thee move, Come [Then] live with me and be my love. 6  The shepherd 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.