🌹 Stanza 157 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘If he be dead, O no! it cannot be,
Seeing his beauty, thou shouldst strike at it;
O yes! it may; thou hast no eyes to see,
But hatefully at random dost thou hit.      
Thy mark is feeble age, but thy false dart
Mistakes that aim and cleaves an infant’s heart.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘If he be dead, O no! it cannot be,

"If he be dead": This phrase introduces a horrifying possibility, expressing Venus's initial disbelief and the conditional nature of her fear. It sets up the central conflict of the stanza: her struggle to accept Adonis's potential demise.
"O no! it cannot be": This is a vehement, emotional denial. The exclamation conveys shock, anguish, and a desperate refusal to acknowledge the unthinkable. It underscores the perceived impossibility of someone as young and beautiful as Adonis dying.
Meaning: "If he is dead, oh no! that cannot be true,"

Line 2: Seeing his beauty, thou shouldst strike at it;

"Seeing his beauty": Refers to Death (the implied "thou") encountering Adonis's extraordinary physical attractiveness. Venus implies that beauty should be a deterrent to Death.
"thou shouldst strike at it": "Thou" refers to Death, personified. Venus ironically suggests that if Death were to act rationally or with discernment, it would either be so captivated by Adonis's beauty that it couldn't harm him, or it would aim at the beauty itself (rather than the life), perhaps out of envy or a desire to possess it, but not destroy him entirely. It's a rhetorical challenge to Death's supposed purpose.
Meaning: "When seeing his beauty, you (Death) ought to be drawn to it (or stopped by it);"

Line 3: O yes! it may; thou hast no eyes to see,

"O yes! it may": This is a sudden, despairing reversal of the previous denial. Venus acknowledges the grim possibility, shifting from disbelief to a painful acceptance of reality.
"thou hast no eyes to see": "Thou" is still Death. Venus attributes a lack of vision or discernment to Death. This implies that Death is blind to beauty, youth, and merit, and therefore incapable of appreciating or sparing what is lovely. It explains why Adonis could die despite his beauty.
Meaning: "Oh yes! it is possible; you (Death) are blind and cannot see,"

Line 4: But hatefully at random dost thou hit.

"hatefully": Describes Death's manner of striking. It is portrayed as malicious and cruel, acting not with purpose or justice, but with spite.
"at random dost thou hit": This emphasizes Death's indiscriminate nature. It does not target specific victims based on age or infirmity, but rather strikes capriciously and without pattern, hitting anyone it chooses, even the undeserving young. "Dost thou hit" means "do you strike."
Meaning: "But instead, you strike hatefully and without any particular aim."

Line 5: Thy mark is feeble age, but thy false dart

"Thy mark is feeble age": "Thy" refers to Death. "Mark" is the intended target. Venus argues that Death's proper or natural targets should be those who are old and weak ("feeble age"), suggesting a just order for mortality.
"thy false dart": This refers to Death's weapon, often depicted as a dart or arrow. "False" here means deceitful, treacherous, or errant, because it misses its intended target. It underscores Death's unfairness and perversion of its supposed role.
Meaning: "Your proper target should be the weak and old, but your misleading dart"

Line 6: Mistakes that aim and cleaves an infant’s heart.

"Mistakes that aim": Death fails to hit its appropriate target (feeble age). This reinforces the idea of Death's blindness and lack of precision, or its deliberate perversion of its role.
"cleaves an infant’s heart": "Cleaves" means to split or pierce deeply. "An infant's heart" is a hyperbole emphasizing Adonis's extreme youth, innocence, and vulnerability. It portrays his death as particularly cruel and unnatural, highlighting the profound tragedy of a young life cut short.
Meaning: "Fails to hit that target and instead pierces the heart of someone as young as an infant."

🎭 Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Personification	"thou shouldst strike at it," "thou hast no eyes to see," "dost thou hit," "Thy mark is feeble age, but thy false dart / Mistakes that aim"	Death is given human attributes, such as eyes, an aim, a dart, and the capacity for hate and error. This allows Venus to directly address and blame Death for Adonis's fate, making the abstract concept of mortality feel like a malevolent, unjust entity.
Apostrophe	"O no! it cannot be, / ... thou shouldst strike at it;"	Venus directly addresses Death (the implied "thou") throughout the stanza. This conveys her intense emotional distress and creates a dramatic, confrontational tone as she argues with the force responsible for her pain.
Irony	"Seeing his beauty, thou shouldst strike at it;"	Venus expresses the ironic expectation that Death should be affected by Adonis's beauty, but instead, it is cruelly indifferent. The irony lies in Death, which is supposed to target "feeble age," instead striking youth and beauty.
Paradox/Contradiction	"O no! it cannot be... O yes! it may;"	Venus's rapid shift from denial to acceptance in consecutive lines highlights her extreme emotional turmoil, internal conflict, and the struggle to process devastating news. It reveals the chaotic nature of grief.
Metaphor	"thy false dart," "an infant’s heart"	"Thy false dart" is a metaphor for Death's indiscriminate and unjust power to kill. "An infant's heart" is a metaphor for Adonis's youth, innocence, and vulnerability, emphasizing the tragedy of his premature death.
Hyperbole	"an infant’s heart"	While Adonis is young, calling his heart an "infant's" is an exaggeration used to heighten the sense of injustice and tragedy, emphasizing his extreme youth and the cruel unnaturalness of his death.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

Stanza 157 is a pivotal moment of lament and despair for Venus as she grapples with the devastating possibility of Adonis's death. The stanza's overall meaning centers on Venus's profound anguish and her accusation of Death as a blind, unjust, and indiscriminate force. She argues that Death's natural target should be the old and infirm ("feeble age"), but instead, it capriciously strikes down the young, beautiful, and innocent ("cleaves an infant's heart").

This lament is highly significant in the context of Venus and Adonis because it foreshadows and mourns the tragic outcome of the poem. It underscores several broader themes:

The Fragility and Transience of Beauty: Venus has consistently celebrated Adonis's unparalleled beauty, believing it should conquer all, even Death. This stanza shatters that illusion, revealing that even the most exquisite beauty is vulnerable to destruction. It highlights the transient nature of physical perfection in the face of inevitable mortality.
The Destructive Power of Unrequited Love/Loss: Venus's overwhelming love for Adonis is met with his indifference, and ultimately, his death. This stanza expresses the depths of her suffering, demonstrating that love, especially when lost, can lead to immense grief and despair, transforming the goddess of love into a figure of profound sorrow.
The Arbitrary Nature of Fate/Death: Venus's argument that Death "has no eyes to see" and hits "at random" emphasizes the perceived injustice and lack of reason behind Adonis's potential demise. It challenges the idea of a just natural order, suggesting that fate is cruel and indiscriminate, taking lives without regard for merit, age, or beauty. This theme resonates with the poem's portrayal of Adonis's death by a boar, which is often seen as a senseless accident rather than a heroic or fated end.
Blame and Accusation: By personifying and directly addressing Death, Venus channels her grief into anger and blame. This externalization of her pain is a common human response to tragedy and adds a dramatic dimension to her lament, making Death a tangible antagonist in her personal tragedy.

In essence, this stanza encapsulates the tragic core of Venus and Adonis: the clash between passionate, life-affirming beauty and the cold, unfeeling reality of death. It prepares the reader for the inevitable sorrow that follows and reinforces the poem's melancholic tone regarding the ephemeral nature of life and beauty.