Venus and Adonis: By William Shakespeare - Illustrated
- ISBN-10
- 1521972389
- ISBN-13
- 9781521972380
- Series
- Venus and Adonis
- Pages
- 37
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-07-30
- Author
- William Shakespeare
Description
How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare Venus and Adonis is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare published in 1593, the same year that Christopher Marlowe published Hero and Leander and Thomas Nashe published The Choice of Valentines, all three classic erotic poems. It is probably Shakespeare's first publication.The poem tells the story of Venus, who is Goddess of Love, and her attempted seduction of Adonis, an extremely handsome young man, who would rather go hunting. The poem is dramatic, pastoral, and at times erotic, comic, tragic, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral. It contains discourses on the nature of love, and many brilliantly described observations of nature. It is written in a verse form known as sesta rima, which is a quatrain followed by a couplet. The sesta rima form was also used by Edmund Spenser and Thomas Lodge. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC. Synopsis: Adonis is a young man renowned for his incredible beauty. However, he is not interested at all in love; he only wants to go hunting. Venus is the goddess of love. When she sees Adonis, she falls in love with him, and comes down to earth, where she encounters him setting out on a hunt. She desires him to get off his horse, and speak to her. Adonis doesn't want to talk to any woman, not even a goddess. So she forces him. She lays down beside him, gazes at him, and talks of love. She craves a kiss, he wants to leave and go hunting. He manages to get away, and he goes to get his horse. At that moment his horse becomes enamored of another horse, who at first resists, but soon the two animals gallop off together. Which keeps Adonis from going hunting. Venus approaches him, and continues to speak to him of love. He listens for a bit, then turns away scornfully. This pains her, and she faints. Afraid he might have killed her, Adonis kneels beside her, strokes and kisses her. Venus recovers and requests one last kiss. He begrudgingly gives in. Venus wants to see him again, Adonis tells her that he can't tomorrow, because he's going to hunt the wild boar. Venus has a vision, and warns him that if he does so, he will be killed by a boar. She then flings herself on him and tackles him to the ground. He gets away from her, and lectures her on the topic of lust versus love. He then leaves, and she cries.
