When in comes to Christopher Marlowe and poems, one can never be too sure as to the exact number of poems he's written. On any given Marlowe website, the two more frequently cited is the much-analyzed The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and minor epic Hero and Leander, ocassionally spruced up with a note about his translations of other writers work. A invaluable website, WikiSource, has listings of multiple Marlowe poems, and against further Googling and Yahooing, it appears these are, in all apparent fact, Christopher Marlowe-written poems.
Worth noting, however, is Poetry Archive's notiation that several of these poems appear to be culled from his plays, such as Edward II and Tamburlaine, Part 1. So it would seem several of these poems are taken out from Marlowe drama texts...Also worth noting is that I am in no way shape or form a mildly 'good' let alone sufferable critic of poetry, standzas and the like, so my musings, should you choose to check out my crazy interpertations, aren't exactly the most brilliant thing ever produced in mankind.
A cool-io depiction of a crown-wearing stuck-up mate lamenting on war. | |
A love letter, more or less, to the apparently insanely beautiful Helen of Troy, because, y'know, she launch'd a thousand ships. | |
*MOST DIFFICULT POEM AWARD!!!* | |
*WORST POEM AWARD!!!* | |
A woman rocks this poem - sorry guys. But the cool part is is that this poem is actually really awesome, and a runner up for 'favorite poem.' Give it a read. | |
*FAVORITE POEM AWARD!!!* | |
The world renowned poem. The symbol of Elizabethan era writing. Featuring lackluster commentary by a ill-adept poem reader. Come on, come all. | |
Notes
I have taken it upon thyself to provide a, dare I say, fun-filled commentary for each and every poem. Whether they're good or not, that's up to you; there's at least three that I'm particularly proud of. My insights are very...insighty. Additionally, several forms of literary theory is at work here, as you can see, Marxist and Feminist approaches are only a few of them used. Spices things up a bit, don't it? Enjoy!
Themes
Christopher Marlowe's dramas were mainly all tragedies, with the characters making choices that eventually lead to their own downfall or something even worse than death. His poetry appears more epic in scale, as well as indulgence in sweet, lovely, stereotypical love poetry. 'The Passionate Shepherd', 'Wo Ever Loved', 'Come Live With Me', and 'The Face That Launched...' are all very lovely poems about a person who the narrator/writer has great affection for. War is another pervading theme throughout Marlowe's work, as he seemed to be greatly influenced by the times he lived in. Additionally, use of mythological figures and Greek Gods are highly prevelent in his writings, although it's not a unusual, special aspect of Marlowe's writing, as multiple dramatists and poets of the times included such figures.