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    Venus and Adonis
    Venus and Adonis
    Venus and Adonis
    Ebook76 pages46 minutes

    Venus and Adonis

    By William Shakespeare

    3.5/5

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 1, 2012
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.

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    Reviews for Venus and Adonis

    3.5/5

    42 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of Shakespeare's narrative poems. It's been about a year and a half since I read it, but I remember really enjoying it at the time. It's beautifully written. One thing I found entertaining was the fact that Venus was so lustful and domineering over Adonis. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys Shakespeare's plays.
    • 3/5
      Good poem, dedicated to the Earl of Southampton. Shakespeare regarded it as his first publication, and that statement necessarily excluded his dramatic work. Th poem is not a retelling of any Greek or Roman work, but a love story using the names the readers would find common enough to set the matter of the poem firmly in their minds without descending to the gritty particulars. It was quite popular during the playwright's lifetime. It bears up well under rereading.
    • 5/5
      According to Crispin Elsted, of the Barbarian Press, Venus & Adonis is one of two lengthy narrative poems written by Shakespeare early in his career, when plague forced the closure of the theatres and he took the opportunity to write something non-theatrical. This poem, The Rape of Lucrece, and probably the sonnets – or at least a good many of them – date from the early 1590s.Having recently read Lysistrata, I was struck by the two different approaches taken by the women in these two books. In Lysistrata, the women refuse to have sex with the men until they end a senseless war (Hmmmm...are you reading this Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Cheney?); while in Venus & Adonis the heroine tries to keep Adonis from dangerous boar hunting with all that her love can offer. It worked for Lysistrata but not for Venus. I love Shakespeare's use of natural imagery in the verse:Fondling, she saith, since I have hemd thee hereWithin the circuit of this ivorie pale,Ile be a parke, and thou shalt be my deare:Feed where thou wilt, on mountaine, or in dale;Graze on my lips, and if those hils be drie,Stray lower, where the pleasant fountaines lie.As for this edition from Barbarian Press, it is out of this world. The illustrations by Andy English are absolutely beautiful. The setting and choice of type and the binding make the book a joy to hold and read. This was my first book from the Barbarian Press and I highly recommend a look by those interested in small private presses. The proprietor's are delightful and knowledgeable as well.Venus & Adonis was shortlisted for the first Gregynog Prize for Letterpress Book Design, Oxford, 2005.

    Book preview

    Venus and Adonis - William Shakespeare

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venus and Adonis, by William Shakespeare

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

    Title: Venus and Adonis

    Author: William Shakespeare

    Release Date: August 10, 2008 [EBook #1045]

    Last Updated: February 6, 2013

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENUS AND ADONIS ***

    Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger

    VENUS AND ADONIS

    by William Shakespeare

                     'Villa miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo

                     Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.'

    TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY WRIOTHESLEY,

    EARL OF SOUHAMPTON, AND BARON OF TICHFIELD.

    > RIGHT HONOURABLE,

    I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines to your lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a burthen: only, if your honour seem but pleased, I account myself highly praised, and vow to take advantage of all idle hours, till I have honoured you with some graver labour. But if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a godfather, and never after ear so barren a land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest. I leave it to your honourable survey, and your honour to your heart's content; which I wish may always answer your own wish and the world's hopeful expectation.

    Your honour's in all duty,

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

    VENUS AND ADONIS

         EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face

         Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,

         Rose-cheek'd Adonis tried him to the chase;

         Hunting he lov'd, but love he laugh'd to scorn;        4

           Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,

           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,        8

         Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,

         More white and red than doves or roses are;

           Nature that made thee, with herself at strife,

           Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.     12

         'Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed,

         And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow;

         If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed

         A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know:             16

         Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses;

         And being set, 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;

         Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:

           A summer's day will seem an hour but short,

           Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.'         24

         With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,

         The precedent of pith and livelihood,

         And, trembling in her passion, calls it balm,

         Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good:         28

           Being so enrag'd, desire doth lend her force

           Courageously to pluck him from his horse.

         Over one arm the lusty courser's rein

         Under her other was the tender boy,                   32

         Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain,

         With leaden appetite, unapt to toy;

           She red and hot as coals of glowing fire

           He red for shame, but frosty in desire.             36

         The studded bridle on a ragged bough

         Nimbly she fastens;—O! how quick is love:—

         The steed is stalled up, and even now

         To tie the rider she begins to prove:                 40

           Backward she push'd him, as she would be thrust,

           And govern'd him in strength, though not in lust.

         So soon was she along, as he was down,

         Each leaning on their elbows and their hips:          44

         Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown,

         And 'gins to chide, but soon she stops his lips;

         And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken,

         'If thou wilt chide, thy lips shall never open.'      48

         He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears

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