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Lines 1063-1194
Upon his hurt she looks so steadfastly, That her sight dazzling(becoming blurred) makes the wound seem three; And then she reprehends(rebukes) her mangling eye, 1065 That makes more gashes where no breach should be: His face seems twain, each several(seperate) limb is doubled; For oft the eye mistakes, the brain being troubled. ‘My tongue cannot express my grief for one, And yet,’ quoth she, ‘behold two Adons dead! 1070 My sighs are blown away, my salt tears gone, Mine eyes are turn’d to fire, my heart to lead: Heavy heart’s lead, melt at mine eyes’ red fire! So shall I die by drops of hot desire. ‘Alas! poor world, what treasure hast thou lost? 1075 What face remains alive that ’s worth the viewing? Whose tongue is music now? what canst thou boast Of things long since, or anything ensuing(to come)? The flowers are sweet, their colours fresh and trim(in good condition); But true-sweet beauty liv’d and died with him. 1080 ‘Bonnet nor veil henceforth no creature wear! Nor sun nor wind will ever strive to kiss you: Having no fair(beauty) to lose, you need not fear; The sun doth scorn you, and the wind doth hiss you: But when Adonis liv’d, sun and sharp air(cold air) 1085 Lurk’d like two thieves, to rob him of his fair: ‘And therefore would he put his bonnet on, Under whose brim the gaudy(bright) sun would peep; The wind would blow it off, and, being gone(the bonnet being gone), Play with his locks: then would Adonis weep; 1090 And straight, in pity of his tender years, They both would strive who first should dry his tears. ‘To see his face the lion walk’d along Behind some hedge, because he would not fear(frighten) him; To recreate himself when he hath sung(when he sang to amuse himself), 1095 The tiger would be tame and gently hear him; If he had spoke, the wolf would leave his prey, And never fright the silly(innocent) lamb that day. ‘When he beheld his shadow in the brook, The fishes spread on it their golden gills; 1100 When he was by, the birds such pleasure took, That some would sing, some other in their bills Would bring him mulberries and ripe-red cherries; He fed them with his sight, they him with berries. ‘But this foul, grim, and urchin-snouted(with a snout like a hedgehog[and animal the Elizabethans regarded as sinister) boar, 1105 Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave, Ne’er saw the beauteous livery(costume[Adonis's outward beauty]) that he wore; Witness the entertainment(reception) that he gave: If he did see his face, why then I know He thought(meant) to kiss him, and hath kill’d him so. 1110 ‘’Tis true, ’tis true; thus was Adonis slain: He ran upon the boar with his sharp spear, Who did not whet his teeth at him again(in return), But by a kiss thought to persuade him there(to persuade him to stay there or to be reconciled to him there); And nuzzling(pushing with the nose) in his flank, the loving swine 1115 Sheath’d unaware the tusk in his soft groin(this idea is borrowed from a late classical poem about Venus' interview with the repentant boar, included among Theocritus's poems and popular in the Renaissance). ‘Had I been tooth’d like him(if I had had teeth like the boar), I must confess, With kissing him I should have kill’d him first; But he is dead, and never did he bless My youth with his; the more am I accurst.’ 1120 With this she falleth in the place she stood, And stains her face with his congealed blood. She looks upon his lips, and they are pale; She takes him by the hand, and that is cold; She whispers in his ears a heavy(sad) tale, 1125 As if they heard the woeful words she told; She lifts the coffer-lids(lids to treasure-chests) that close his eyes, Where, lo! two lamps, burnt out, in darkness lies; Two glasses(mirrors) where herself herself beheld A thousand times, and now no more reflect; 1130 Their virtue(power) lost, wherein they late(not long ago) excell’d, And every beauty robb’d of his effect: ‘Wonder of time,’ quoth she, ‘this is my spite(grief; what angers me), That, you being dead, the day should yet be light. ‘Since thou art dead, lo! here I prophesy, 1135 Sorrow on love hereafter shall attend: It shall be waited on with(accompanied by) jealousy, Find sweet beginning, but unsavoury end; Ne’er settled equally, but high or low(lovers will never be equal in social status or in the strength of their love); That all love’s pleasure shall not match his woe. 1140 ‘It shall be fickle, false, and full of fraud, Bud and be blasted in a breathing-while(spring up and wither away in the space of a breath); The bottom poison, and the top o’erstraw’d(strewed over) With sweets that shall the truest sight beguile(i.e. love is like an animal trap, with sweet food scattered on top to tempt the victim to fall into the poison below): The strongest body shall it make most weak, 1145 Strike the wise dumb and teach the fool to speak. ‘It shall be sparing(niggardly) and too full of riot(debauchery)(It shall be both niggardly and prodigal), Teaching decrepit age to tread the measures(dance); The staring(bold-faced) ruffian shall it keep in quiet, Pluck down the rich, enrich the poor with treasures; 1150 It shall be raging mad, and silly mild, Make the young old, the old become a child. ‘It shall suspect where is no cause of fear; It shall not fear where it should most mistrust; It shall be merciful, and too severe, 1155 And most deceiving when it seems most just; Perverse it shall be, where it shows most toward(willing, docile), Put fear to valour, courage to the coward. ‘It shall be cause of war and dire events, And set dissension ’twixt the son and sire; 1160 Subject and servile to all discontents, As dry combustious(combustible) matter is to fire: Sith in his prime Death doth my love destroy, They that love best their love shall not enjoy.’ By this, the boy that by her side lay kill’d 1165 Was melted like a vapour from her sight, And in his blood that on the ground lay spill’d, A purple flower sprung up, chequer’d with white; Resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood. 1170 She bows her head, the new-sprung flower to smell, Comparing it to her Adonis’ breath; And says within her bosom it shall dwell, Since he himself is reft(taken away) from her by death: She crops the stalk(breaks the flower off by the stalk), and in the breach(break) appears 1175 Green dropping sap, which she compares to tears. ‘Poor flower,’ quoth she, ‘this was thy father’s guise(habit), Sweet issue(child) of a more sweet-smelling sire For every little grief to wet his eyes: To grow unto himself was his desire(He desired to grow only for his own sake, to be entirely self-sufficient), 1180 And so ’tis thine; but know, it is as good To wither in my breast as in his blood. ‘Here was thy father’s bed, here in my breast; Thou art the next of blood(next of kin--but the phrase is espeically appropriate since the flower literally comes from Adonis's blood), and ’tis thy right: Lo! in this hollow cradle take thy rest, 1185 My throbbing heart shall rock thee day and night: There shall not be one minute in an hour Wherein I will not kiss my sweet love’s flower.’ Thus weary of the world, away she hies(hurries), And yokes her silver doves; by whose swift aid 1190 Their mistress, mounted, through the empty skies In her light chariot quickly is convey’d; Holding their course to Paphos, where their queen Means to immure herself(shut herself up) and not be seen. (Nothing in Venus and Adonis is better than this last stanza. The poem has been given its beauty by its speed, by sudden fancies and darting digressions which have kept it inconstant movement; and by changes of perspective and sudden wider-opening views such as ll. 811-16. All these effexts are combined in these last six lines, and Venus vanishes with a flutter in clear skies-from Arden Shakespeare footnote)
 
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