VENUS AND ADONIS THIS poem, the first product of Shakespeare's pen to issue from the press, was printed in 1593 by his fellow-townsman, Richard Field. It seems to have become popular at once; and by the middle of the seventeenth century at least twelve editions had appeared. The dedication indicates that it was published with Shakespeare's consent, and it is to be presumed that it was printed from the author's manuscript. The first edition is the sole authority for the text. Of the date of composition the only additional evidence lies in the words of the dedication, "the first heir of my invention." Since, according to the received chronology, Shakespeare had by this time written several plays, it is necessary to suppose either that he used this phrase in a sense which excluded drama, or that the poem had at least been sketched some years before the date of publication. This second and more plausible hypothesis does not preclude the possibility of polishing and revision down to the date of entry in the Stationers' Register, April 18, 1593. Venus and Adonis belongs to a somewhat large class of Elizabethan poems in which classical legends were re-told with the luxuriant decoration characteristic of the spirit of the Renaissance. Ovid was the most frequent source of these themes, and in the present instance we find borrowings from several of the poems of the Metamorphoses: the reluctance of the hero from the legend of Hermaphroditus in Book iv; the boar from that of Meleager in Book viii; and other details from the account of Adonis in Book x. A large number of poetical treatments of the myth, going back to Theocritus as well as to Ovid, are found in the works of sixteenth-century poets in Italy, France, and Spain; and traces of their influence are supposed to be discernible in the present poem. The essential feature of the reluctance of Adonis, however, is not explicitly stated in any of the Continental versions, classical or Renaissance. It is present in incidental treatments of the theme by Greene and Marlowe; and Thomas Lodge, in his ornate re-telling of the Ovidian tale of Glaucus and Scilla (1589), had described a situation similar to that in Shakespeare's poem, by reversing, probably under the influence of Ovid's Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, the parts played by the hero and heroine. Lodge also treated in passing the story of Adonis; and the verse-form he employed is that used by Shakespeare. These indications, corroborated by the presence of numerous similarities in detail, point to Lodge's poem as the most important immediate source of Shakespeare's inspiration. Vilia miretur vulgus: mihi flavus Apollo TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY WRIOTHESLEY, EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON AND BARON OF TICHFIELD. RIGHT HONOURABLE, I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolish'd lines to your Lordship, nor how the world will censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a burden; 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 "And yet not cloy thy lips with loath'd 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, Over one arm the lusty courser's rein, She red and hot as coals of glowing fire, 35 And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken, "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; Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs 50 55 Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste, chin, And where she ends she doth anew begin. 60 Forc'd to content, but never to obey, 65 So they were dew'd with such distilling showers. Still she entreats, and prettily entreats, For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale; Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets, 'Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale. Being red, she loves him best; and being white, Her best is better'd with a more delight. 80 Look how he can, she cannot choose but love; all wet; And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless debt. Upon this promise did he raise his chin, Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave, 85 Who, being look'd on, ducks as quickly in; But when her lips were ready for his pay, Never did passenger in summer's heat turn. Her help she sees, but help she cannot get ; "O, pity," gan she cry, "flint-hearted boy! 95 'Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy? "I have been wooed, as I entreat thee now, Even by the stern and direful god of war, Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow, Who conquers where he comes in every jar; 100 Yet hath he been my captive and my slave, And begg'd for that which thou unask'd shalt have. "Torches are made to light, jewels to wear, Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use, Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear; Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse. Seeds spring from seeds and beauty breedeth beauty; Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty. "Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed, Unless the earth with thy increase be fed? 1 And so, in spite of death, thon dost survive, By this the love-sick queen began to sweat, 175 For where they lay the shadow had forsook them, And Titan, tired in the mid-day heat, 193 |