The Complete Poems and Translations

by Christopher Marlowe, Stephen Orgel (Editor)

The essential lyric works of the great Elizabethan playwright--newly revised and updated

Though best known for his plays--and for courting danger as a homosexual, a spy, and an outspoken atheist--Christopher Marlowe was also an accomplished and celebrated poet. This long-awaited updated and revised edition of his poems and translations contains his complete lyric works--from his translations of Ovidian elegies to his most famous poem, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," to the impressive epic mythological poem "Hero and Leander."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Literature, 16th Century, Elizabethan Period, Renaissance, Drama

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1598

About the author

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost Elizabethan tragedian next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his magnificent blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death.

The author's Wikipedia page.

Reviews

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rain, Reeds, and Reckless Verses: A Monsoon Reading of Marlowe (Kolkata, 2009)

Kolkata was awash in greys the year I read The Complete Poems and Translations of Christopher Marlowe. 2009. The skies poured like they'd finally remembered their job description, and the city responded with its usual stoicism—umbrellas flipping inside out, autos refusing fares, chai stalls overflowing with gossip and steam. I had found the book days earlier in a tucked-away shelf in a college library, or perhaps at a second-hand stall off College Street—memory has a way of blurring when soaked in rain.

Marlowe, the meteoric Elizabethan rebel—dead by twenty-nine, stabbed in the eye, spy or scoundrel or both. His words felt like thunder spoken through silk. That monsoon, I wasn’t reading poetry. I was possessed by it.

“Come live with me and be my love,” I mouthed one damp afternoon, watching raindrops race down my window. It wasn’t just pastoral seduction—it was temptation itself in verse form. Idealism and desire braided like rivers at high tide.

And those translations—from Ovid’s Amores—so unapologetically sensual, bold, and dangerously modern. Marlowe made Latin feel like it was written last night, by someone who had just kissed and regretted it.

I remember one day in particular. Power cut. Fan still. The city outside soaked in thunder. I lay on the floor beside the open pages, feeling half like Faustus, half like Tamburlaine. Was it the sweat or the storm that clung to my skin? Hard to tell.

Marlowe's gift wasn’t just poetic. It was alchemical. He turned classical myth into fever-dreams, desire into danger, and ambition into damnation. His voice echoed inside my own restlessness that season. I didn’t just read Hero and Leander, I wandered its shores.

Marlowe made me feel like language could be lightning. Unafraid. Unrelenting. And absurdly, eternally beautiful.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This contains all Marlowe's poems including his translations of Ovid's Amores, and his first book of Lucan's 'Civil War' (Bellum Civile). Especially wonderful is his Hero and Leander: based on Ovid's Heroides 18 and 19, Marlowe goes much further than Ovid and creates a marvellous epyllion (mini epic) that engages deeply with Renaissance issues of gender allocation and the erotic.

In some ways this is almost a poem about masculine coming of age as the boy Leander with his effeminised boyish beauty that seduces Neptune in a wonderful set piece become a man (and is likened to Hercules) after he consummates his relationship - at last - with the beautiful Hero.

Also included in this collection is the Passionate Shepherd and the replies by Ralegh and Donne.

If you only know Marlowe's plays then this is infinitely worth reading: erudite, learned and yet also witty and sexy, Marlowe is fabulous.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher Marlowe definitely had a thing for bringing the best (meaning the naughtiest parts) of Ovid to the Elizabethan era, and it is easy to see why his poetry was so widely admired. Many of his admirers, however, didn't quite get what he was creating. Very evident in Chapman's continuation of Hero and Leander - broken up into Sestiads, no less - where made-up deities like Ceremony and Pity lean on abandoned Hero a lot of heavy lessons about matrimony. At least Petowe's portion carries on somewhat in Marlowe's romantic vein, even if his second part breaks with tradition and gives Leander a happier, and a lot less drowning than other sources tell of, end. The translations of Ovid and Lucan's books are refreshing, imaging that these would most likely be where Shakespeare and his contemporaries would have found much to inspire their plays and poems. The Passionate Shepherd is a good summary of the imagined pastoral life. His admirers, and a few sardonic wits like Ralegh, create strained verses which almost compete with the simplicity of "make thee a bed of roses" and "come live with me, and be my love." The final verse, a memorial to someone named Sir Roger Manwood, who perhaps is only remembered through the ages as having a verse in Latin written about him, becomes more a rant against the lawlessness of London. Did Marlowe really know this guy, or was it his chance to preemptively complain about his own Deptford death?

[Dave H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for ALL OVID'S ELEGIES, translated by Marlowe.

(It's been some time that I read Hero and Leander and do not recall enough to comment. The Passionate Shepherd is, of course, one of the good ones.)

I came across Marlowe's translation of Elegy VI from book III, found it quite fun, not what one thinks of at all when one thinks of Love Poetry. (The title or introduction is Quod ab amica receptus cum ea coire non putuit, conqueritur, translating as He bewails the fact that, in bed with his mistress, he was unable to perform.) Most of the elegies do not go quite this far, but many of them, like this one, seem like just the type of thing for Marlowe.

The notes tell me Marlowe translated these as an early exercise and the notes tell me the many places he made errors. As for the poetry, this is Marlowe before he was Marlowe, not Marlowe at the height of his powers -- he is still too beholden to the original form and verse, though he does have his moments.

Neither is this Ovid at the height of his powers. It's a fun read, though.

[Lynsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to rate. On the one hand, I enjoy Marlowe's work. On the other, his translations of Ovid's elegies take up most of the book, and, since I'm not as well-versed in the classics as I could be, I could not understand much of the content without looking up supplemental information. The fault there, of course, would lie with me and not Marlowe.

[Ruthie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only poem I read in this book from my university days is "Hero and Leander." There are pencil-markings from my diligent work as a student. But my dad died recently and going through his books is painful. I'm going through mine now, to weed some out, to save whoever has that task when I shuffle off this mortal coil. Taking it to the charity shop.
I have no memory of the poem...

[Steven Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, boring, and off putting.

[J. Allen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable lyric works by someone other than Shakespeare!! Now on to the plays!!

[Ely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed these well-enough, but after a while they started to feel a little repetitive. I'm glad that I did finally read this, considering I bought it back in 2011.

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed hero and leander immensely! the translation of ovid was also great!

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection of Marlowe’s translations and poetry is deserving of its classic status, although more difficult to read and related to than his contemporary Shakespeare. That said, anyone willing to put aside comparisons to Shakespeare will be rewarded with classic English poetry in its own right. In my opinion, by far the two most interesting pieces in the collection are “Hero and Leander” and “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.” There are a number of absolutely beautiful passages:

From “Hero and Leander, Sestiad I”
“What virtue is it that is born with us?
Much less can honor be ascribed thereto,
Honor is purchased by the deeds we do.
Believe me, Hero, honor is not won,
Until some honorable deed be done.” (12)

From “Hero and Leander, Sestiad II”
“Love always makes those eloquent that have it.” (20)

From “Hero and Leander, Sestiad III”
“Thus Time, and all-states-ordering Ceremony
Had banished all offense: Time’s golden thigh
Upholds the flowery body of the earth
In sacred harmony, and every birth
Of men and actions makes legitimate,
Being used aright. The use of time is Fate.” (33)

From “Hero and Leander, Sestiad III”
“Love is a golden bubble full of dreams,
That waking breaks, and fills us with extremes.” (38)


I consider “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” a complete masterpiece:

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 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 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.

Unlikely to make you swoon, this collection is definitely worthy of time and study.

See my other reviews here!

[Cherylann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Marlowe was another candidate who was thought to be a candidate for the real Shakespeare. William Shakespeare and Marlowe were born in the same year in England, so they were both writing in the same period. Like Shakespeare, Marlowe was also a playwright and a poet, but was additionally a spy, and an unspoken atheist. He was unfortunately stabbed to death ten days after a warrant for his arrest was issued. No reason was given for the warrant of arrest, however it is speculated that it had to do with his secret dealings within the government. It is unclear whether his murder was connected with his arrest warrant. Due to the murky details of Marlowe’s death, there is a theory that Shakespeare doubter’s employ, asserting that Marlowe faked his own death and continued writing under the name of William Shakespeare.

Personally, I find the argument of Marlowe as Shakespeare very unconvincing. For a start, Marlowe writes in an entirely different style. Hero and Leander is very overtly sexual, while Shakespeare’s plays sexual allusions are very vague. There is also explicit homosexuality on the part of Neptune, who fancies Leander and ends up drowning him in his embrace. Shakespeare, though there are some arguable homosexual moments, they are all very tactfully included. Not everyone is convinced Shakespeare was a homosexual, while it is common knowledge that Marlowe was.

Though I certainly don’t deny that Marlowe is not a talented poet, in fact I may even like his style more than I like Shakespeare’s, (call me a heretic) there simply is no evidence to support the Marlowe is Shakespeare theory.

Hero and Leander tells a story about adolescent sexual discovery. Though Leander has the rhetorical skills to talk Hero into bed, he has no sexual maturity. Hero, though she is somewhat paradoxically a nun to Venus, the goddess of love, forsakes her virginity for her love for Leander. Though the story is tragic, the story is much more recognizable than a similar themed play, Romeo and Juliet. There is something convincing in the confused lovers’ naiveté that is endearing to the reader.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read Hero and Leander

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

In some ways, Marlowe is more of a mystery than Shakespeare. He rarely wrote what we would call lyric poetry (such as sonnets), but outside his plays he did only a few translations and poems based on mythological tales.

The two sestiads of Hero and Leander are the highpoints of this set. Marlowe beautifully unfolds the story of the two lovers. Much time and study could be done on this poem, and perhaps another time I will undertake that. Today, though, I was curious to re-read these works. (Chapman’s additions, though, do not require a re-reading.)

Marlowe’s translation of Ovid’s Amores/Elegies are a bit uneven. There are some beautiful sections and some are rather forgettable. (These could be an issue with the source.) In the best sections there is a fervid sensuality and frankness. But overall, this isn’t something I’m in a hurry to read again – at least not the whole way through. A selection of the best elegies will probably suffice.

The Lucan translation is in beautiful poetry, but the subject matter is hard to follow. One must have a deep knowledge of Roman history to understand the many references and allusions to people, places and battles. There are some beautiful lines, but this is a rather arcane piece.

(It should be noted this Penguin edition provides notes but they're all at the end of the book, meaning you must go back and forth on almost every third line. It's maddening.)

The Passionate Shephard to His Love is well deserving of its fame. It is the foundational theme for hundreds of years of poetry and rock and roll/pop music.

Overall, I think a reader would be better to start with Marlowe’s great plays, particularly Tamburlaine, The Jew of Malta and Dr. Faustus. If you have an intense interest in Latin history and poetry, though, this book will certainly appeal to you.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hero and Leander is the headline act in this collection of all of Christopher Marlowe's surviving non-dramatic verse, and its super-charged eroticism, both hetero (Hero/Leander) and homosexual (Neptune/Leander), easily makes it more memorable than the continuations of the poem by George Chapman and Henry Petowe, which are heavily sententious, and just plain dull, respectively. But it is Marlowe's renderings of Ovid's Amores that steal the show, a brilliant meeting of poetic minds that leaves one wishing that Marlowe could have lived to polish them, and to translate more of the great Roman poet's narrative and love poetry. Marlowe's skill with the lyric is amply demonstrated by the beautiful "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" and this edition prints responses and imitations by Ralegh, Donne, and others; and the collection is completed by his translation of the first book of Lucan's Pharsalia, which gives Marlowe plenty of scope to indulge his talent for extravagance verging on hyperbole, but Lucan here seems little more than "sound and fury," and Tamburlaine the Great remains the best place to experience the power and passion of Marlowe's verse.

[Rachel Brand · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read "Hero and Leander" for EN4341: Renaissance Sexualities: Rhetoric and the Body 1580-1660.

My rating is based upon the poem "Hero and Leander", so perhaps it would be higher if I read some of the other poems in this collection. As it stands, I didn't find "Hero and Leander" terribly interesting, even after hearing a lecture on it and meeting with my study group. Often studying a text can give the reader a deeper appreciation of it, but that wasn't the case for this poem. I enjoyed Marlowe's "Dr Faustus" when I read it a couple of years ago, but I think this poem would be better enjoyed by someone who has a stronger understanding of classical literature. My study group spent a lot of time looking up Greek myths in the hope it would help us understand this poem better, and although it made slightly more sense in the end, I didn't like the poem any better. 2*

[Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this because I was attending a reading by professional actors of some of Marlowe's poems, including Hero and Leander. Having professional actors read the poems is significantly more interesting that trying to read them yourself. I struggled through, largely just reading the words and really not absorbing what I was reading. Seemed like it took months; okay, it really did take months. I just don't like poetry, but for some reason I keep trying to come to terms with poetry by selecting and reading one book of poetry a year (well, sometimes my friend in Chicago gives me one to read that he thinks I'll like). It's hasn't worked yet, but I'm an optimist (yeah, right!). I'm done with poetry for the year.

[João Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marlowe is obviously good, and his influence undeniable. But reading his poems - you get the feeling he would struggle to really be one to eclipse Shakespeare. He may even been more intelectual, and his humor a little more british, but he just haven't all those momments of brillance. I suppose his dimisse was an act of literary genius.

Also, meh, It is hard to image him and Shakespeare being the same writer.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lengthy supplemental material by less enjoyable poets like George Chapman makes up a substantial portion of this edition. Marlowe is five stars, but in illuminating the poets who were inspired by his brief works, it makes a rather bloated read out of a perfect - if short - output.

[J.I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marlowe's plays are barely worthy of our time (I'm sorry, but he is a historical footnote with a few successes and a badass backstory), but his poetry is interesting and worthy of consideration. This edition is mediocre, however. The lack of good footnoting is infuriating.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delicious book with a fruity blend of wit and eloquence.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

required reading for elizabethan peoples. a different set of competencies on display here, as compared with the tragedies.

[Maria Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher F**king Marlowe. That's how I'm going to refer to this guy from now on.