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Venus and Adonis
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Lines 1-96
EVEN as the sun with purple-colour’d face Had ta’en his last leave of the weeping morn, Rose-cheek’d Adonis hied him to the chase(hurried to go hunting); Hunting he lov’d, but love he laugh’d to scorn; Sick-thoughted(love sick) Venus makes amain unto him(heads at full speed towards him), 5 And like a bold-fac’d suitor ’gins to woo him. ‘Thrice fairer than myself,’ thus she began, ‘The field’s chief flower, sweet above compare, Stain(superior beauty or excellence is thought of as casing a stain or shadow on what is surpasses) to all nymphs, more lovely than a man, More white and red than doves or roses are; 10 Nature that made thee, with herself at strife, Saith that the world hath ending with thy life(Nature strove to surpass herself in making Adonis, and having achieved perfection intends to let the world die with him). ‘Vouchsafe(show a gracious readiness or willingness), thou wonder, to alight(alight from) thy steed, And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow(the saddle-bow: the arched front part of the saddle; curb the horse, so that it might not stray); If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed(reward) 15 A thousand honey(sweet) secrets shalt thou know: Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses; And being set(seated), I ’ll smother thee with kisses: ‘And yet not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety, But rather famish them amid their plenty, 20 Making them red and pale with fresh variety; (Adonis' lips will be alternately stung to readness by the 'ten kisses short as one', and drained of their colour by the 'one long as twenty'). Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty: A summer’s day will seem an hour but short(only a short hour), Being wasted(spent) in such time-beguiling sport.’ With this she seizeth on his sweating palm(a sign of a sensuous disposition), 25 The precedent(sign, example, proof) of pith(marrow, the full development of which signifies maturity and hence strength) and livelihood(energy), And, trembling in her passion, calls it balm, Earth’s sovereign(most potent) salve(A healing ointment for application to wounds or sores) to do a goddess good: Being so enrag’d(roused by desire), desire doth lend her force Courageously to pluck(pull) him from his horse. 30 Over one arm the lusty courser(a large, powerful horse, or a stallion)’s rein, Under her other was the tender boy, Who blush’d and pouted(thrust out the lips to express petulance or sulkiness) in a dull disdain, With leaden appetite(heavy sense), unapt to toy(unwilling or unfit for love's play, disinclined for [sexual] play); She red and hot as coals of glowing fire, 35 He red for shame, but frosty in desire. The studded bridle(the head gear of the harness) on a ragged(rough)bough Nimbly she fastens;—O! how quick is love:— The steed is stalled up(tied, tethered as in a stall), and even now To tie the rider she begins to prove(try, test): 40 Backward she push’d him, as she would be thrust, And govern’d him in strength, though not in lust(will, desire or sexual appetite; i.e. she can control him physically but can't arouse him sexually or get him to do what she wants). So soon was she along(lying alongside), as he was down,(He was no sooner stretched out than she was lying at his side) Each leaning on their elbows and their hips: Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown, 45 And ’gins to chide(complain), but soon she stops his lips; And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken,(Her words are broken by the kisses with which she mingles them) ‘If thou wilt chide, thy lips shall never open.’ He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks; 50 Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs To fan and blow them dry again she seeks: He saith she is immodest, blames her miss(misbehaviour); What follows more she murders with a kiss. Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, 55 Tires(tears away) with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone, Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste, Till either gorge be stuff’d or prey be gone; Even so she kiss’d his brow, his cheek, his chin, And where she ends she doth anew begin. 60 Forc’d to content(put up with it; acquiescence containing the idea of submission or passivity), but never to obey, Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face; She feedeth on the steam, as on a prey('that which is procured or serves as food), And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace;(A free gift or act of mercy by God) Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers, 65 So(so long as) they were(provided that they were) dew’d with such distilling showers. Look! how(just as) a bird lies tangled in a net, So fasten’d in her arms Adonis lies; Pure shame and aw’d(frightened;intimidated) resistance made him fret, Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes: 70 Rain added to a river that is rank(swollen; full to overflowing) Perforce(necessarily) will force it overflow the bank. Still(all the time, continually) she entreats, and prettily entreats, For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; Still is he sullen, still he lowers(frowns) and frets, 75 ’Twixt(between) crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;(He alternately blushes for shame and turns pale with rage) Being red, she loves him best; and being white, Her best is better’d with a more delight(i.e. she loves him even better than best[an absurd hyperbole]). Look how he can, she cannot choose but love; And by her fair immortal hand she swears, 80 From his soft bosom never to remove(withdraw), Till he take truce(make peace, come to terms) with her contending tears,(tears making war on him) Which long have rain’d, making her cheeks all wet; And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless(inestimable) debt. Upon this promise did he raise his chin 85 Like a dive-dapper(dabchick[a small water-bird]) peering through a wave, Who, being look’d on, ducks as quickly in; So offers he to give what she did crave; But when her lips were ready for his pay(what he is to pay her), He winks(closes his eyes), and turns his lips another way. 90 Never did passenger(traveller) in summer’s heat More thirst for drink than she for this good turn.(The myth of Tantalus, up to his chin in water, yet unable to drink) Her help she sees, but help she cannot get; She bathes in water, yet her fire must burn: ‘O! pity,’ ’gan she cry, ‘flint-hearted boy: 95 ’Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy?
Lines 229-240
'Fondling,’(foolish boy) she saith, ‘since I have hemm’d(enclosed) thee here Within the circuit of this ivory pale,(i.e. her white arm, imaged as the pale or fence round a deer park. In the following lines, Venus's body is metaphorically depicted as the park) 230 I ’ll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer;(punning or 'dear') Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale: Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry, Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie. ‘Within this limit(precinct) is relief(pasture) enough, 235 Sweet bottom(valley)-grass(low-lying grassland) and high delightful plain, Round rising hillocks, brakes(clumps of trees; thickets) obscure and rough, To shelter thee from tempest and from rain: Then be my deer, since I am such a park; No dog shall rouse(drive from cover) thee(hunt you out from cover), though a thousand bark.’ 240
Lines 403-426
‘Let me excuse thy courser(a large, powerful horse), gentle boy; And learn of him, I heartily beseech thee, To take advantage on presented(offered) joy(of the opportunities of joy that you are given); 405 Though I were dumb, yet his proceedings(actions) teach thee. O learn to love; the lesson is but plain(only an easy one), And once made perfect(learnt), never lost again.’ ‘I know not love,’ quoth he, ‘nor will not know it, Unless it be a boar, and then I chase it; 410 ’Tis much to borrow, and I will not owe it;(To accept[or bestow] love involves great obligations, which I do not wish to undertake) My love to love is love but to disgrace it;(My only feeling about love is a wish to expose it as disgraceful: What I feel towards love is only a strong desire to scorn it) For I have heard it is a life in death, That laughs and weeps, and all but with a breath(in the same breath). ‘Who wears a garment shapeless and unfinish’d? 415 Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth? If springing(just beginning to grow; growing) things be any jot diminish’d, They wither in their prime, prove nothing worth: The colt that ’s back’d(ridden; broken in, saddled) and burden’d being young(while yet young) Loseth his pride and never waxeth(grows) strong. 420 ‘You hurt my hand with wringing(squeezing); let us part, And leave this idle theme, this bootless(pointless) chat(useless discussion): Remove your siege from my unyielding heart; To love’s alarms(assaults; attacks) it will not ope the gate: Dismiss your vows, your feigned tears, your flattery; 425 For where a heart is hard, they make no battery(fail to batter down the defences; Originally the word meant nor more than a violent attempt to break into a military position, but it acquired the associations of a successful entry).’
 
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