🌹 Stanza 129 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘Nay then,’ quoth Adon, ‘you will fall again
Into your idle over-handled theme;
The kiss I gave you is bestow’d in vain,
And all in vain you strive against the stream;      
For by this black-fac’d night, desire’s foul nurse,
Your treatise makes me like you worse and worse.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘Nay then,’ quoth Adon, ‘you will fall again

• "Nay then": An interjection signaling exasperation or a change in tone, akin to "Oh, come on!" or "Well then." It indicates Adonis's growing impatience and his intent to deliver a sharp rebuttal. Shakespeare uses this to immediately convey Adonis's frustration.
• "quoth Adon": Said Adonis. "Quoth" is an archaic past tense of "say," lending a formal, narrative voice to the poem, common in long verse narratives of the Elizabethan era.
• "fall again": To revert or relapse into a previous state or subject. Adonis implies that Venus is returning to an argument or topic that he finds tiresome and repetitive, suggesting her persistence is predictable and unwelcome.
• Meaning: "Oh, come on," said Adonis, "you're going to go back to that topic again."

Line 2: Into your idle over-handled theme;

• "idle": Useless, pointless, ineffective, or doing no good. Adonis views Venus's efforts and her topic of love as unproductive and serving no purpose from his perspective.
• "over-handled theme": A subject or argument that has been discussed or presented excessively, to the point of being worn out, trite, or tedious. This phrase emphasizes Adonis's boredom and his deep weariness with Venus's relentless amorous advances and her arguments in favor of love. It suggests the "theme" has been manipulated or brought up far too often.
• Meaning: "Into your useless, worn-out, and tedious subject matter;"

Line 3: The kiss I gave you is bestow’d in vain,

• "The kiss I gave you": Refers to the kiss Adonis reluctantly gave Venus earlier in the poem (Stanza 128, line 768: "A thousand kisses to a wanton boy"). This shows Adonis remembers the act and views it as a forced concession on his part.
• "is bestow’d in vain": Has been given uselessly, without achieving any desired effect or reciprocation. "Bestow'd" means given or presented. "In vain" means without success or a desired outcome. Adonis implies his reluctant kiss was wasted because it failed to satisfy Venus or deter her; she continues her aggressive pursuit.
• Meaning: "The kiss I gave you has been utterly wasted,"

Line 4: And all in vain you strive against the stream;

• "all in vain": Completely without success or purpose; entirely uselessly. This reinforces the absolute futility of Venus's persistent efforts.
• "strive against the stream": An idiom meaning to make effort against a prevailing current, popular opinion, or natural inclination; to attempt something futile or impossible. Here, it vividly illustrates Venus's hopeless struggle to force Adonis to love her, going against his innate aversion to love and his strong desire for hunting. Shakespeare uses this powerful image to highlight the sheer pointlessness and difficulty of Venus's persistent, forceful pursuit.
• Meaning: "And you are completely uselessly struggling against an impossible current;"

Line 5: For by this black-fac’d night, desire’s foul nurse,

• "For by": An emphatic oath or exclamation, similar to "I swear by" or "By means of." It lends gravity and sincerity to Adonis's subsequent declaration, emphasizing his strong conviction.
• "black-fac’d night": A personification of the dark night, with "black-fac'd" emphasizing its deep darkness. The oath underscores the solemnity or frustration of Adonis's declaration, swearing by a tangible, pervasive presence.
• "desire’s foul nurse": A powerful metaphor where night is personified as the "nurse" that nurtures or fosters "desire." "Foul" suggests something unpleasant, corrupt, morally offensive, or ugly. Adonis links night, traditionally a time for romantic encounters, with a particularly distasteful form of desire, showing his deep aversion to it. He sees night as the propagator of base, unseemly passions.
• Meaning: "Because, I swear by this dark night, which nurtures ugly and illicit desires,"

Line 6: Your treatise makes me like you worse and worse.

• "Your treatise": Your lengthy discourse, elaborate argument, or persuasive speech. Venus has been lecturing Adonis extensively about the nature and pleasures of love. "Treatise" implies a formal, exhaustive, and perhaps tedious discussion, highlighting Adonis's perception of her arguments as dull and academic rather than passionate.
• "makes me like you worse and worse": Causes me to dislike you increasingly and profoundly. This is Adonis's most direct, blunt, and devastating rejection. It reveals the completely counter-productive effect of Venus's aggressive and persistent advances, which are actively intensifying his aversion rather than sparking affection.
• Meaning: "Your long argument is causing me to dislike you more and more."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza marks a critical turning point in Venus and Adonis, representing Adonis's most definitive, blunt, and painful rejection of Venus. Up to this point, his resistance has often been characterized by evasion, shyness, or a preoccupation with hunting. Here, he directly confronts Venus's methods and explicitly states his escalating aversion to her.

The overall meaning of the stanza is Adonis's complete and utter dismissal of Venus's advances. He perceives her passionate arguments for love as "idle" and "over-handled," conveying his profound boredom and lack of interest. The repeated phrase "in vain" powerfully underscores the futility of her efforts, likening her struggle to "striv[ing] against the stream"—a vivid image of an impossible, fruitless endeavor. His oath by the "black-fac’d night, desire’s foul nurse" reveals his jaded, almost cynical view of desire itself, associating it with something corrupt or ugly. The stanza culminates in a devastating blow: her persistent "treatise" (her long, elaborate argument for love) is not only ineffective but actively counterproductive, solidifying his dislike.

In the broader context of the poem, this stanza is crucial for several reasons. It highlights the central conflict between unbridled, possessive desire (Venus) and youthful, chaste aversion or preoccupation (Adonis). It challenges the traditional portrayal of love as universally desirable and powerful, instead presenting it, from Adonis's perspective, as something tiresome, unwelcome, and even repulsive when forced. This moment solidifies Adonis's unwavering resistance, which ultimately leads to Venus's despair and foreshadows the poem's tragic conclusion. It underscores the destructive potential of unrequited, aggressive passion, emphasizing that genuine affection cannot be commanded or coerced, and that a relentless pursuit can, ironically, breed contempt rather than love. This stanza ensures that Adonis's eventual death feels like an inevitable consequence of his purity colliding with Venus's overwhelming, unfulfilled desire.