🌹 Stanza 115 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘Sometime he runs among a flock of sheep,
To make the cunning hounds mistake their smell,
And sometime where earth-delving conies keep,
To stop the loud pursuers in their yell,    
And sometime sorteth with a herd of deer;
Danger deviseth shifts, wit waits on fear:

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘Sometime he runs among a flock of sheep,

"Sometime": An archaic form of "sometimes," indicating a recurring or occasional action. Shakespeare uses it to emphasize the varied tactics employed by the hunted animal.
"he": Refers to the boar, the hunted animal, whose cunning is being described.
"runs among a flock of sheep": This describes a specific evasion tactic. By mingling with a large group of animals, the boar aims to confuse the hounds, whose sense of smell would be overwhelmed or obscured by the scent of the sheep, making it difficult to pick out the boar's distinct trail.
Meaning: Sometimes, the hunted boar runs into the midst of a flock of sheep.

Line 2: To make the cunning hounds mistake their smell,

"cunning hounds": Refers to the highly skilled and intelligent hunting dogs, known for their keen sense of smell and tracking abilities. "Cunning" here highlights their natural aptitude for the hunt.
"mistake their smell": To cause the hounds to lose or confuse the specific scent of the boar they are tracking. "Their smell" refers to the boar's scent. This phrase emphasizes the strategic purpose of the boar's action.
Meaning: In order to trick the clever hunting dogs into losing its scent.

Line 3: And sometime where earth-delving conies keep,

"sometime": Again, "sometimes," reinforcing the range of evasive maneuvers.
"earth-delving conies": "Conies" is an archaic term for rabbits. "Earth-delving" describes their habit of digging extensive burrows underground. This implies a place riddled with holes and tunnels, which would provide cover or make tracking difficult. Shakespeare uses this vivid description to highlight the specific environment the boar seeks out.
"keep": An archaic verb meaning "to dwell," "to reside," or "to frequent." So, where the rabbits live.
Meaning: And sometimes, it goes to where burrowing rabbits live.

Line 4: To stop the loud pursuers in their yell,

"loud pursuers": Refers to the hunting dogs, characterized by their baying, barking, and howling as they pursue their prey.
"in their yell": To interrupt their vocal pursuit, to silence their cries because they have lost the trail. If the hounds lose the scent in the rabbit warren, their characteristic "yell" of pursuit would cease.
Meaning: To cause the noisy hunting dogs to stop their loud baying (because they've lost the trail).

Line 5: And sometime sorteth with a herd of deer;

"sometime": "Sometimes," continuing the pattern of various tactics.
"sorteth with": An archaic phrase meaning "associates with," "mixes with," or "joins."
"a herd of deer": Similar to the flock of sheep, a herd of deer provides another large group of animals whose collective scent could mask or confuse the boar's individual scent, further frustrating the hounds.
Meaning: And sometimes, it joins a group of deer.

Line 6: Danger deviseth shifts, wit waits on fear:

"Danger deviseth shifts": "Danger" is personified, acting as an agent. "Deviseth" means invents or contrives. "Shifts" refers to stratagems, evasions, or tricks. This line generalizes the boar's specific actions into a universal principle: a perilous situation prompts the creation of clever escape tactics. Shakespeare uses personification to elevate the concept.
"wit waits on fear": "Wit" means intelligence, cunning, or quick thinking. "Waits on" means attends upon, serves, or is prompted by. This powerful metaphorical statement suggests that intelligence is sharpened and activated by the presence of fear, especially the fear for one's life. It highlights the primal connection between survival instinct and ingenuity.
Meaning: Peril itself invents clever evasions, and intelligence is called forth or serves as a response to fear.

🎭 Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Personification	"Danger deviseth shifts, wit waits on fear"	Gives abstract concepts (Danger, Wit) human-like agency and purpose, emphasizing their active role in the survival struggle and the inherent cleverness of life in the face of peril.
Anaphora / Repetition	"Sometime he runs...", "And sometime where...", "And sometime sorteth..."	The repeated "sometime" emphasizes the varied, persistent, and systematic nature of the boar's evasion tactics, highlighting its cunning and adaptability.
Imagery	"flock of sheep," "earth-delving conies," "loud pursuers in their yell," "herd of deer"	Creates vivid sensory details that allow the reader to visualize the hunt and the natural environment, making the scene more immediate and engaging.
Metaphor / Symbolism	The boar's actions as a whole stanza	The boar's cunning and evasive maneuvers serve as a metaphor for the powerful instinct of self-preservation and the ingenuity that arises from a life-threatening situation.
Alliteration	"Danger deviseth," "wit waits"	Creates a subtle musicality and rhythm in the lines, making them more memorable and reinforcing the connection between the words.
Juxtaposition	The "cunning hounds" vs. the "cunning" of the hunted boar	Highlights the intelligence and skill on both sides of the hunt, elevating the pursuit from a simple chase to a battle of wits between predator and prey.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza offers a detailed and vivid portrayal of the hunted boar's exceptional cunning and resourceful tactics for survival. It describes the animal's strategic use of its environment and other creatures (sheep, conies, deer) to confuse and evade its pursuers. The final line, "Danger deviseth shifts, wit waits on fear," acts as a powerful universal statement, transcending the specific hunt to articulate a profound truth about the relationship between peril, instinct, and intelligence in the animal kingdom.

Connection to the broader themes of Venus and Adonis:

The Nature of the Hunt and its Dangers: The stanza directly feeds into the poem's central motif of hunting. It establishes the perilous nature of the chase and the fierce cunning that even animals possess for survival. This vivid description of the boar's defensive skills foreshadows the deadly power of the other boar – the one that will ultimately kill Adonis – emphasizing that the hunter can also become the hunted, and that nature, when threatened, is formidable.
Contrast of Instinctive vs. Human Desire: The boar's actions are driven purely by primal survival instinct ("wit waits on fear"). This contrasts sharply with Venus's "unnatural" pursuit of Adonis, which is driven by unbridled passion and desire. The animal's "wit" serves to preserve life, while Venus's "wit" (in her seductive arguments) seems to lead to a sort of death (Adonis's reluctance, his eventual demise). The poem often explores the tension between natural, uncorrupted instincts and the often destructive nature of human passions.
Adonis's Fate and the Boar's Power: By demonstrating the incredible cleverness and resilience of a hunted boar, Shakespeare subtly elevates the status of the creature that will eventually cause Adonis's death. It imbues the boar with an almost mythical cunning, making Adonis's demise by such an animal seem less like an accident and more like a fateful encounter with a formidable force of nature. It builds suspense and emphasizes the inherent dangers of the sport Adonis loves.
The Cycle of Life and Death: The stanza, by focusing on the struggle for survival, subtly introduces the theme of the cycle of life and death that permeates the poem, especially through the mythological transformation of Adonis into a flower. The boar's desperate fight for life is a stark counterpoint to the inevitable death that awaits Adonis.