Table of ContentsVenus and Adonis (1593)SummaryExcerpts and AnalysisThemesA Lover's Lament (1609)SummaryExcerpts and AnalysisThemesComparison and Contrast: Venus and Adonis and a Lover's LamentShakespearean poetry about love, compare and contrastSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Although Shakespeare is well known for his plays and sonnets, his other poetry is less popular, although some of it is quite complex. Here two of his lesser-known love poems are compared Venus and Adonis, published in 1593, and A Lover's Lament published in 1609. Venus and Adonis (1593)SummaryInspired by a mythological tale found in Book X from Ovid's Metamorphoses, the poem focuses on the refusal of a handsome young man, Adonis, to submit to the amorous advances of Venus. Of course, this is ironic, because Venus herself is the goddess of love. When Cupid accidentally marks Venus with one of his arrows, Venus's infatuation with Adonis increases to the point that she can no longer control herself. Venus begins following Adonis wherever he goes, even on his hunting trips, and even ends up dressing like Diana (the goddess of the hunt) in order to woo Adonis. One day, just before Adonis goes hunting, Venus warns him not to hunt dangerous animals, but only small and harmless ones. Of course, Adonis, thinking very highly of himself, ignores her warnings and attacks a wild boar. Unfortunately, his spear doesn't hit well enough and the boar attacks Adonis with its tusks, seriously injuring him. Venus hears Adonis' cries of pain and rushes towards the forest, but by the time she arrives, it is too late and Adonis is already dead. Venus becomes extremely sad and watches as Adonis' bright red blood spills onto the ground. In his honor, Venus transforms his blood into a dazzling purple flower. Excerpts and Analysis “Even though the violet-faced sun had taken his last leave of the morning in tears, rosy-cheeked Adonis pursued him hunting; he loved, but he made fun of love; Venus of ill thoughts makes a hand to him, and like a suitor with a bold face, he wants to woo him. » (Verses 1-6) The poem begins with Shakespeare introducing Adonis as a young, handsome "rosy-cheeked" youth, as he is known to have been the most attractive male in Greek and Roman mythology. Even in modern literature, there are many allusions to Adonis, such as in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, when Willy Loman calls his sons "Adonis". The general theme of the poem is represented from the beginning, with the line "He loved hunting, but he mocked love." Adonis has no interests other than hunting. Venus is presented as “sickly” in love with him, and begins to try to pursue him. Even as an empty eagle, sharpened by fasting, Draws its beak on feathers and flesh and bones, Shaking its wings, devouring everything in haste, Until the throat is stuffed or the prey disappears; even so, she kissed his forehead, his cheek, his chin, and where she ends, she begins again. (Lines 55-60) Adding to the theme of Adonis' disinterest in love, Shakespeare uses the simile of an eagle to describe Venus's attempts to woo Adonis. He writes that just like a hungry eagle, Venus is ravenous and only wants the love of Adonis. He underlines his unstoppable desire with his comparison. Look how he can, she can only choose to love; And by her fair immortal hand she swears, From her sweet bosom never to take it away, Till he make a truce with her rival tears, Which have long rained. , makingher cheeks all wet; And a sweet kiss will pay this innumerable debt. (Verses 79-84) Adonis doesn't know what to make of Venus's constant attempts and wooing him, because any facial expression he makes has no effect on Venus. ' feelings for him (“look how he can…”). In these lines, Venus makes a promise to stay there ("from her sweet breast never to withdraw it"), until Adonis accepts the fact that she is crying. She tries to overcome her indifference towards him, but cannot, and seeing this, Adonis offers to buy back her tears for a kiss. With this promise he lifted his chin, Like a diver peering through a wave, Who, being looked at, stoops as quickly; therefore offers to give her what she wanted; but when his lips were ready to receive his pay, he winked and turned his lips another way. (Verses 85-90) Once again, Shakespeare uses bird similes to explain the lovers' behavior, this time comparing Adonis to a small water bird, which dives into the water for food. Adonis pretends to mock Venus, but instead he winks and moves his head away, with the speed of a little "dapper dive." abandoned them, and Titan, tired by the midday heat, with a burning eye neglected them with warmth; wishing that Adonis had his team to guide him, so he was like him and alongside Venus. (Lines 174-180) Much later through In the poem, it is noon and Titan, the god who uses his chariot to pull the sun across the sky each day, is above, looking down at Venus and Adonis. He is exhausted by his own heat, which is by chance the issue of Venus: she experiences intense love, which is her own attribute. Meanwhile, Titan sees Adonis and wishes he were in his place. The placement of Titan in the poem is intended to emphasize how particularly distinctive Venus falling in love with a man is. Here, Venus, the goddess that all other gods usually chase away, is ignored by the only man she truly desires. And now Adonis, with a sluggish mind, and with a heavy, dark, unsympathetic eye, his black brows are overwhelming. her beautiful sight, Like misty vapors when they blot out the sky, Her sour cheeks cry: “Fi, no more love! The sun burns my face: I have to take it off. » Fi, lifeless image, cold and senseless stone, Well- Painted idol, brown and dead image, Statue content with only the eye alone, Thing similar to a man, but born of no woman! You are not a man, although of a man's complexion, For men will kiss even of their own accord. » (Verses 181-192) Finally, Adonis breaks. He will no longer accept Venus' harassment. He tells Venus he has to leave. Venus fights back, comparing Adonis to a stone-cold image, although "well painted" he has no sense of emotion and is lifeless. She also says that he may look like a man, but he's not human at all, due to his lack of feelings for her. He uses the word "complexion" to refer to Adonis' outward appearance, but says that although he looks like a man, he is not, because men are naturally inclined to desire, and he does not. is obviously not. shouts: “a favor, remorse!” » He leaves and rushes to his horse. (Lines 257-258) Venus tells Adonis to show some kindness, but he ignores her and jumps on his horse. You were gone, she said, my sweet boy, before that, but you told me you would hunt the wild boar. O, be advised: you do not know what it is. he sharpens again,Like a mortal butcher ready to kill(Circa 614-618)Much later, Adonis returns and speaks to Venus again, when she warns him not to hunt the wild boar, for it is dangerous.' And more, it presents to my eyesthe image of an angry itchy wild boar, under the sharp fangs on its back is an image like you, all stained with blood; whose blood shed on the fresh flowers makes them fall in sorrow and hang their heads. 'What should I do, seeing you like this, who trembles before the imagination? This thought makes my weak heart bleed, and fear teaches it divination: I prophesy your death, my living pain, if you meet the boar. tomorrow. Venus prophesies Adonis' death if he encounters the boar, and all that goes with it, including nature's sadness at Adonis' potential death, if he fights the boar and loses, as shown in line “whose blood is on the fresh flowers spilled makes them fall in sorrow and hang their heads. "O Jupiter," she said, "how stupid was I to be of such weak and stupid spirit as to mourn his death who lives and must not die until mutual overthrow of mortal kind! For he being dead, with him is Beauty slain, And, Beauty dead, black Chaos returns. (Circa 1015-1020) Much later in the poem, Adonis has left and Venus is left to wonder if he listened to her or not. She previously believed he would commit suicide trying to hunt the boar, but now she tries to convince herself that she was an idiot for believing he was dead. Her death, she explains, would mean the death of beauty itself, and with it, the rise of chaos. And opening, it threw an involuntary light on the large wound which the boar had dug in his soft side; whose usual lily-white, with the purple tears his wound wept, was drenched: No flower was near, no herb, herb, leaf, or weed, But he stole his blood and seemed to bleed with it. (Circa 1052-156) Venus finally encounters Adonis' body in a clearing in the forest. She looks at the wound the boar made on Adonis' torso and her surroundings, noting that there was not a single piece of flora in sight, only its bright red blood on the ground Alas, poor world, what treasure have you lost! What face remains alive that is worth seeing? what can you boastOf ancient things, or of something that follows?The flowers are sweet, their colors fresh and neat;But true sweet beauty lived and died with him (Circa 1076-1080)Venus cries. with sadness about how the world has lost a great treasure She says to herself that no other face was worth seeing, nor any other voice as sweet as hers She tells that the flowers are fresh and sweet. , but that true beauty died when he did it And in his blood which lay on the ground, a purple flower arose, checkered with white, resembling well his pale cheeks, and the blood which falls in circles on. their whiteness stood firm. (Verses 1168-1170) In these verses, Venus transforms the shed blood of Adonis into a flower, and Shakespeare compares the colors of the flower to Adonis' pale cheeks. So weary of the world, she goes away, and ties up her money. doves, by whose aid their mistress, ascending through the empty skies, is quickly transported in her light chariot, holding their course towards Paphos, where their queen wishes to wall herself in and not be seen. (Circa 1190 - 1194) Finally, in the final lines of the poem, Venus displays ultimate sadness at the death of her unrequited lover. She flies into the skies, hiding in Paphos where she wishes not to be seen in such a state of despair.ThemesAfter reading the poem, two contrasting themes immediately emerge: One could see Adonis' death as the pathetic result of her cold refusal of love, or on the other hand, Venus's condemnation and despair at the end of the poem could be seen as condemning the primal instinct of love. The approachesTraditional approaches to understanding the theme of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis have generally focused on the moral elements of the play, and Shakespeare's approach to understanding the elements of desire. One of the main themes of the poem also seems to be caution, warning against the dangers of extreme love. The poem does this by highlighting the stark contrast between righteous love and lust through the death of Adonis. These two seemingly opposing ethical concepts of love are Shakespeare's juxtaposition of the two in the poem which highlights the complexity of each and the thin line between them. For example, Adonis can personify the ethical choice between duty and lust. By rejecting the advances of Venus, Adonis makes a choice in favor of responsibility. Another theme is that of the intensity of female desires. Despite conservative objections to the poem's glorification of sensuality, it was extremely popular, and this theme can be seen in some of Shakespeare's other works, such as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare examines the slightly absurd way in which women's desires are often represented. Opponents of the legitimacy of this theme often argue that in the original mythology, Venus was scratched by Cupid's arrow, thus partially eliminating Venus' fault in her desires. which was popularized in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The authors of these types of poems often told stories of unrequited love, personal misfortunes, injustice in society, poverty, or other social problems. The events of the poem take place in rural England, where the poem's narrator observes a woman as she complains about a man who seduced her and then left her. The narrator hears the woman's screams from a distant hill and listens. The woman cries into a handkerchief and, although she is past her youth, the narrator remarks that she still retains her beauty. The narrator watches as the woman's screams attract a "reverend man" who is nearby grazing cattle. The man sits next to her, asks her what's wrong and offers to help. The narrator continues to listen as the woman complains to an old man about a young, handsome, sharp-tongued man who uses women for his own purposes. The poem is in iambic pentameter with an ababbbcc rhyme scheme. Extracts and analysis of off a hill whose concave belly reformulated a plaintive story of a sister valley, my minds were at one with this double voice, and I began to enumerate the sad story; rings twice, storming his world with the wind and rain of sorrow. (1st stanza) The tale begins with the narrator sitting on a hill with a cave-like formation, so that he can hear everything that is happening in the surrounding area very clearly, as it echoes off the concave side of the mountain. From a nearby “sister” valley, he hears the echo of a young girl’s voice and decides to lie down and listen. He identifies where the sound is coming from and sees the sad woman. She drew a thousand favors from a maund, of amber, crystal and pearl jet, which she threw one by one into a river, on whose weeping pool she rested; Like wear, applying wet to wet, Or the hands of the monarch that do not drop the bounty Where some cry, but where excess begs all. (6th Stanza) Before the eyes of the narrator, she takes sumptuous gifts from her basket and throws them one by one into the river. “Apply wet to wet” refers to the woman's tears falling into the river. These often bathed her in his fluxive eyes, and often kissed her, and often she began to tear up; she cried “O false blood! lies, whatunapproved testimony you bear; the ink would have looked blacker and more damned here. "That said, at the height of rage, the lines she praises, great discontent thus shattering their content. (8th stanza) The woman sits, pouring over the many love letters of the man who hurt, over whom she cries, bathing them in the tears of her "fluid eyes. She is suddenly filled with rage and begins to shout against the letters, calling them false and "unapproved" or unproven (the man). had not proven his love for her) She cries that the ink should have been blacker to match the man's offenses against her. In her misfortune, she finally realizes the falsity of the letters' contents. . “Father,” she said, “although in me you see the wound of many explosive hours, let this not reveal your judgment, I am old, not age, but sorrow, over me: I could still have been a spreading flower, fresh to myself, if I had applied myself to myself and to no love apart. (Stanza 11) The narrator watches as the old man approaches her cautiously and she begins to tell him her story. She says that even though he sees that his hopes have been dashed, she is not old. She explains that it was not age that had its effect on her, but the grief of the situation she found herself in that had its effect on her. She compares herself to a flower saying that she could be fresh and young, and live only for herself, without worrying about love problems. His qualities were as beautiful as his form, for he had a virgin tongue and was therefore free; Was it such a storm, as is often the case between May and April, when the winds breathe gentle, even if disorderly. His rudeness thus with his entitled youth made a false livery in a pride of truth. (Stanza 15) The girl is now describing the personality of the man who courted her. She describes him almost lovingly, saying that his personal qualities were almost as beautiful as him. He had a soft voice, as the words “maiden’s tongue” describe. But he could also be virile and angry if provoked, "if men moved him, would he be such a storm". The messy side of his childish charm wooed her and his immature, childish personality was human, so much so that it masked his false intentions. strong reason,For his advantage, he always woke up and slept:To make the one who cries laugh, the one who laughs cries,He had the dialect and different skills,Catching all the passions in his profession of will:(Stanza 18)She continues to describe her style of speaking, and how it charmed her. He asks her philosophical questions and questions everything in life, his answers are deep and seemingly well thought out. When she asks him questions, he answers quickly and the reasoning behind them is logical. He had language skills, which particularly appealed to her. "And for a long time in these conditions I held my city, until he besieged me thus: "Sweet young girl, have a little pity on my suffering youth, and do not be of my holy wishes, I am afraid: It is you who swore that no one was ever told; For love feasts I have been called to, Until now I have never invited, nor ever courted. (Stanza 26) After the woman finishes complaining for a while, the old man has time to impart his wisdom to her: he tells her the story from a man's point of view. He says he has already been called to love, even without invitation. He has committed errors of blood (physical acts) in the past, which have nothing to do with love or spirit. “O father! what hell of witchcraft is found in the.