The Shepherd:Notes

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Once again, as in the 'Introduction', we have a bright idyllic pastoral vision, but with perhaps more obvious allusion to the figure of Christ the Shepherd. It is worth noting that, in the poem, the Shepherd may watch over his flock, such that they are at peace and full of trust, but it is he who follows them, and is full of praise for their innocence and trust: the sense is one of mutual trust and responsiveness, rather than docile obedience.

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