This poem is in the category of Pastorals, which Renaissance poets like Marlowe wrote to convey their thoughts and feelings about love and other subjects. Pastorals contain idealized, rural settings ("...and we sit upon the rocks, seeing the shepherds feed their flocks.") In "The Passionate Shepherd" the speaker is the shepherd himself, and he is trying to woo an un-named love interest by tempting her with bunches of fancy material possessions and lovely flowers (that do not last!) To gain a real sense of the speaker's perspective, read the reply that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote: "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd." You will notice a decidedly different tone.
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