Part 1

Lines 1–168

1 EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face
2 Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,
3 Rose-cheek'd Adonis tried him to the chase;
4 Hunting he lov'd, but love he laugh'd to scorn;
5 Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,
6 And like a bold-fac'd suitor 'gins to woo him.
7 'Thrice fairer than myself,' thus she began,
8 'The field's chief flower, sweet above compare,
9 Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,
10 More white and red than doves or roses are;
11 Nature that made thee, with herself at strife,
12 Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.
13 'Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed,
14 And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow;
15 If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed
16 A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know:
17 Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses;
18 And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses:
19 'And yet not cloy thy lips with loath'd satiety,
20 But rather famish them amid their plenty,
21 Making them red and pale with fresh variety;
22 Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:
23 A summer's day will seem an hour but short,
24 Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.'
25 With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,
26 The precedent of pith and livelihood,
27 And, trembling in her passion, calls it balm,
28 Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good:
29 Being so enrag'd, desire doth lend her force
30 Courageously to pluck him from his horse.
31 Over one arm the lusty courser's rein
32 Under her other was the tender boy,
33 Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain,
34 With leaden appetite, unapt to toy;
35 She red and hot as coals of glowing fire
36 He red for shame, but frosty in desire.
37 The studded bridle on a ragged bough
38 Nimbly she fastens;—O! how quick is love:—
39 The steed is stalled up, and even now
40 To tie the rider she begins to prove:
41 Backward she push'd him, as she would be thrust,
42 And govern'd him in strength, though not in lust.
43 So soon was she along, as he was down,
44 Each leaning on their elbows and their hips:
45 Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown,
46 And 'gins to chide, but soon she stops his lips;
47 And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken,
48 'If thou wilt chide, thy lips shall never open.'
49 He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears
50 Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks;
51 Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs
52 To fan and blow them dry again she seeks:
53 He saith she is immodest, blames her miss;
54 What follows more she murders with a kiss.
55 Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,
56 Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone,
57 Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste,
58 Till either gorge be stuff'd or prey be gone;
59 Even so she kiss'd his brow, his cheek, his chin,
60 And where she ends she doth anew begin.
61 Forc'd to content, but never to obey,
62 Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face;
63 She feedeth on the steam, as on a prey,
64 And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace;
65 Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers
66 So they were dewd with such distilling showers.
67 Look! how a bird lies tangled in a net,
68 So fasten'd in her arms Adonis lies;
69 Pure shame and aw'd resistance made him fret,
70 Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes:
71 Rain added to a river that is rank
72 Perforce will force it overflow the bank.
73 Still she entreats, and prettily entreats,
74 For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale;
75 Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets,
76 'Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;
77 Being red she loves him best; and being white,
78 Her best is better'd with a more delight.
79 Look how he can, she cannot choose but love;
80 And by her fair immortal hand she swears,
81 From his soft bosom never to remove,
82 Till he take truce with her contending tears,
83 Which long have rain'd, making her cheeks all wet;
84 And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless debt.
85 Upon this promise did he raise his chin
86 Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave,
87 Who, being look'd on, ducks as quickly in;
88 So offers he to give what she did crave;
89 But when her lips were ready for his pay,
90 He winks, and turns his lips another way.
91 Never did passenger in summer's heat
92 More thirst for drink than she for this good turn.
93 Her help she sees, but help she cannot get;
94 She bathes in water, yet her fire must burn:
95 'O! pity,' 'gan she cry, 'flint-hearted boy:
96 'Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy?
97 'I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now,
98 Even by the stern and direful god of war,
99 Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow,
100 Who conquers where he comes in every jar;
101 Yet hath he been my captive and my slave,
102 And begg'd for that which thou unask'd shalt have.
103 'Over my altars hath he hung his lance,
104 His batter'd shield, his uncontrolled crest,
105 And for my sake hath learn'd to sport and dance
106 To toy, to wanton, dally, smile, and jest;
107 Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red
108 Making my arms his field, his tent my bed.
109 'Thus he that overrul'd I oversway'd,
110 Leading him prisoner in a red-rose chain:
111 Strong-temper'd steel his stronger strength obey'd,
112 Yet was he servile to my coy disdain.
113 O! be not proud, nor brag not of thy might,
114 For mastering her that foil'd the god of fight.
115 Touch but my lips with those falr lips of thine,—
116 Though mine be not so fair, yet are they red,—
117 The kiss shall be thine own as well as mine:
118 What seest thou in the ground? hold up thy head:
119 Look in mine eyeballs, there thy beauty lies;
120 Then why not lips on lips, since eyes in eyes?
121 'Art thou asham'd to kiss? then wink again,
122 And I will wink; so shall the day seem night;
123 Love keeps his revels where there are but twain;
124 Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight:
125 These blue-vein'd violets whereon we lean
126 Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.
127 'The tender spring upon thy tempting lip
128 Shows thee unripe, yet mayst thou well be tasted:
129 Make use of time, let not advantage slip;
130 Beauty within itself should not be wasted:
131 Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their prime
132 Rot and consume themselves in little time.
133 'Were I hard-favour'd, foul, or wrinkled-old,
134 Ill-nurtur'd, crooked, churlish, harsh in voice,
135 O'erworn, despised, rheumatic, and cold,
136 Thick-sighted, barren, lean, and lacking juice,
137 Then mightst thou pause, for then I were not for thee;
138 But having no defects, why dost abhor me?
139 'Thou canst not see one winkle in my brow;
140 Mine eyes are grey and bright, and quick in turning;
141 My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow;
142 My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning;
143 My smooth moist hand, were it with thy hand felt.
144 Would in thy palm dissolve, or seem to melt.
145 'Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear,
146 Or like a fairy, trip upon the green,
147 Or, like a nymph, with long dishevell'd hair,
148 Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen:
149 Love is a spirit all compact of fire,
150 Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire.
151 'Witness this primrose bank whereon I lie;
152 These forceless flowers like sturdy trees support me;
153 Two strengthless doves will draw me through the sky,
154 From morn till night, even where I list to sport me:
155 Is love so light, sweet boy, and may it be
156 That thou shouldst think it heavy unto thee?
157 'Is thine own heart to shine own face affected?
158 Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left?
159 Then woo thyself, be of thyself rejected,
160 Steal thine own freedom, and complain on theft.
161 Narcissus so himself himself forsook,
162 And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.
163 'Torches are made to light, jewels to wear,
164 Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use,
165 Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear;
166 Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse:
167 Seeds spring from seeds, and beauty breedeth beauty;
168 Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty.

Notes

TLN 1archaic vocab
“sun with purple-colour'd face”
'Purple' in Elizabethan English meant a deep, blood-red crimson — the color of the sky at dusk or dawn — not the modern violet-blue shade. The sun is personified as a red-faced figure leaving the weeping (dewy) morning behind.
TLN 5archaic vocab
“Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him”
'Sick-thoughted' means consumed, or made sick, by her own thoughts of desire. 'Amain' means at full speed, with all one's force. Venus is not hesitant: she charges directly at Adonis like a soldier at a target.
TLN 7rhetorical device
“Thrice fairer than myself”
Venus opens her first speech with a blazon — a formal catalogue of the beloved's beauties. She praises Adonis as fairer than herself (the goddess of beauty), chief flower of the field, a shame ('stain') to all lesser nymphs, whiter and redder than doves or roses. This over-the-top inventory is the classical love-poem's standard opening move.
TLN 13archaic vocab
“Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed”
'Vouchsafe' means 'condescend to grant' or simply 'be so good as to.' 'Meed' (TLN 15) means reward. Venus is asking Adonis to dismount — and promising that if he does, she will give him a 'meed' of 'honey secrets,' meaning sweet, hidden pleasures.
TLN 19rhetorical device
“not cloy thy lips with loath'd satiety”
Venus promises Adonis that kissing her will never become boring. 'Cloy' means to disgust by excess — as too much sweet food makes you sick. She promises the opposite: that amid 'plenty' he will still feel 'famished' (craving more), and that she will vary her kisses so constantly that boredom is impossible.
TLN 26archaic vocab
“precedent of pith and livelihood”
Venus seizes Adonis's sweating palm and calls it a 'precedent of pith and livelihood' — a proof, or evidence, of vigor and vitality. 'Pith' means core strength or marrow; 'livelihood' here means 'liveliness, vital energy' (not occupation). She treats his palm like an oracle of his virility.
TLN 34archaic vocab
“leaden appetite, unapt to toy”
'To toy' means to dally or flirt amorously. 'Unapt' means unfit or unwilling. Adonis has a 'leaden appetite' for love — heavy, dull, unresponsive — while Venus burns hot as coals. The contrast between leaden cold and fiery heat is sustained across the next two lines: she is hot with desire, he is red only with shame.
classical Cupid's golden and leaden arrows
TLN 55rhetorical device
“Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast”
This six-line simile compares Venus's kissing to a starving eagle tearing apart its prey. 'Sharp by fast' means made keen by hunger (fasting sharpens the appetite). 'Tires' (TLN 56) is a falconry term meaning 'tears flesh with the beak.' The simile turns her kisses into a predatory feeding rather than a gentle exchange.
TLN 86rhetorical device
“Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave”
A 'dive-dapper' (or dabchick) is a small freshwater diving bird that bobs its head up, glances around, and then ducks back under the surface. The simile captures Adonis's tentative movement: he raises his chin as if about to offer the kiss Venus wants, then pulls back just before their lips meet. Comic deflation at its sharpest.
TLN 97classical allusion
“I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now, Even by the stern and direful god of war”
Venus boasts that Mars, the god of war — who has never bowed his neck in battle and conquers every fight — was her captive and begged for what Adonis refuses to give freely. She uses Mars's surrender as an argument: if the most violent, unconquerable god yielded to her, how can a boy resist?
classical Venus and Adonis
TLN 123cultural context
“Love keeps his revels where there are but twain”
Venus argues that private, secret lovemaking — 'revels' for only two ('twain') — is not a public transgression. 'Revels' are festive celebrations; Love's celebration requires privacy, not an audience. The blue-veined violets they are lying on cannot betray them.
TLN 149cultural context
“Love is a spirit all compact of fire”
'Compact of' means 'composed entirely of' or 'made up of.' Renaissance natural philosophy arranged the world into four elements: earth (heavy), water, air, and fire (light). Love, Venus argues, is pure fire — light enough to rise ('aspire'), not heavy ('gross') enough to sink. It is therefore suited to Adonis, not a burden.
TLN 161classical allusion
“Narcissus so himself himself forsook, And died to kiss his shadow in the brook”
Narcissus was a beautiful youth in Ovid's Metamorphoses who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool and wasted away unable to possess it, finally dying and turning into a flower. Venus uses the myth to warn Adonis: loving only his own beauty, like Narcissus, leads to self-destruction rather than fulfillment.
classical Narcissus
TLN 167rhetorical device
“Seeds spring from seeds, and beauty breedeth beauty; Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty”
Venus closes her first major speech with the procreation argument: since Adonis himself was begotten (conceived), he has a duty to beget — to reproduce — in turn. Beauty, like seed, must be planted in another to survive. Refusing sex is not just personal but a failure of natural obligation.