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    Venus and Adonis
    Venus and Adonis
    Venus and Adonis
    Ebook51 pages36 minutes

    Venus and Adonis

    By William Shakespeare

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Venus and Adonis is a poem by William Shakespeare, written in 1592-93, with a plot based on passages from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is a complex, kaleidoscopic work, using constantly shifting tone and perspective to present contrasting views of the nature of love.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMVP
    Release dateDec 12, 2018
    ISBN9782291061885
    Author

    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564. The date of his birth is not known but is traditionally 23 April, St George's Day. Aged 18, he married a Stratford farmer's daughter, Anne Hathaway. They had three children. Around 1585 William joined an acting troupe on tour in Stratford from London, and thereafter spent much of his life in the capital. A member of the leading theatre group in London, the Chamberlain's Men, which built the Globe Theatre and frequently performed in front of Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare wrote 36 plays and much poetry besides. He died in 1616.

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    Reviews for Venus and Adonis

    3.5/5

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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.

    Book preview

    Venus and Adonis - William Shakespeare

    Venus and Adonis

    William Shakespeare

     Copyright © 2018 by OPU

    All rights reserved.

    No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

    Part 1

    Introduction

    Part 2

    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 hied him to the chase;

    Hunting he loved, but love he laugh'd to scorn;

    Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,

    And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him.

    'Thrice-fairer than myself,' thus she began,

    'The field's chief flower, sweet above compare,

    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.

    '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:

    Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses,

    And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses;

    'And yet not cloy thy lips with loathed satiety,

    But rather famish them amid their plenty,

    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.'

    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:

    Being so enraged, 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,

    Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain,

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