🌹 Stanza 164 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

Whereat her tears began to turn their tide,
Being prison’d in her eye, like pearls in glass;    
Yet sometimes falls an orient drop beside,
Which her cheek melts, as scorning it should pass
To wash the foul face of the sluttish ground,
Who is but drunken when she seemeth drown’d.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: "Whereat her tears began to turn their tide,"

• "Whereat": An archaic or formal conjunction meaning "at which point" or "because of which." It connects this description of Venus's tears to the preceding events (Adonis's rejection).
• "began to turn their tide": This phrase uses a metaphor of the ocean or a river. Her tears, previously flowing or threatening to flow freely, are now receding or being held back, much like a tide turns from flowing in to flowing out, or from rising to receding. This implies a conscious or subconscious effort by Venus to control her outward display of grief.
• Meaning: "At that point, her tears started to hold back, as if a flowing tide were turning."

Line 2: "Being prison’d in her eye, like pearls in glass;"

• "Being prison’d in her eye": This phrase personifies the tears, suggesting they are held captive within her eyes, unable to fall freely. It emphasizes the containment and the internal struggle to suppress her sorrow.
• "like pearls in glass": This is a striking simile. The tears are compared to precious, lustrous pearls, while the eye itself (the cornea or the entire eyeball) is likened to a transparent glass container. This comparison elevates the tears from mere fluid to something valuable and beautiful, contained within a fragile, clear vessel. Shakespeare chose "pearls" to connote preciousness and roundness, and "glass" for its clarity and fragility, highlighting the beauty and vulnerability of Venus's contained sorrow.
• Meaning: "They were held captive within her eyes, like valuable pearls visible through a glass container."

Line 3: "Yet sometimes falls an orient drop beside,"

• "Yet sometimes falls": This indicates that despite being "prison'd," an occasional tear still escapes, highlighting the intensity of her emotion that cannot be entirely suppressed.
• "an orient drop": "Orient" here means lustrous, radiant, brilliant, like pearls from the East (the "Orient") which were highly prized for their sheen. It reinforces the "pearls" simile from the previous line, again emphasizing the preciousness and beauty of each individual tear. "Drop" refers to a single tear.
• "beside": This implies that it's not a flood of tears, but a singular, isolated tear that might roll down the side of her face.
• Meaning: "However, occasionally a single, luminous tear would still fall from her eye."

Line 4: "Which her cheek melts, as scorning it should pass"

• "Which her cheek melts": This is a vivid and somewhat hyperbolic image. It suggests that the tear, upon touching Venus's cheek, is instantly absorbed or disappears without a trace, as if the cheek's beauty or warmth "melts" it away. This could imply the cheek's perfection or its intense heat from her passion. Shakespeare uses "melts" to convey the instantaneous disappearance of the drop, making the cheek seem almost miraculous.
• "as scorning it should pass": This personifies the cheek. It suggests that the cheek itself disdains or rejects the idea that such a precious tear should fall any further, implying that the tear is too pure or noble to touch the "foul" ground below. The cheek acts as a guardian, preventing the tear from further descent.
• Meaning: "Her cheek instantly absorbed that tear, as if it disdained to let it fall further."

Line 5: "To wash the foul face of the sluttish ground,"

• "To wash the foul face": This describes the intended, but rejected, purpose of the tear – to cleanse. The "face" of the ground is a personification, and it is explicitly described as "foul," implying impurity or ugliness.
• "of the sluttish ground": This is a powerful and derogatory personification of the ground. "Sluttish" implies promiscuous, debauched, unchaste, or simply dirty and base. It suggests that the ground is unworthy and defiled, and therefore, Venus's precious tears are too pure and noble to be wasted upon it. Shakespeare chooses "sluttish" to convey a strong sense of moral degradation and impurity, creating a stark contrast with Venus's refined beauty and pure sorrow.
• Meaning: "To clean the dirty surface of the base, impure ground."

Line 6: "Who is but drunken when she seemeth drown’d."

• "Who is but drunken": This continues the personification of the ground. It suggests that if the ground were to be covered in tears, it wouldn't be truly "drowned" or overwhelmed by sorrow, but merely "drunken" – appearing disoriented, insensible, or perhaps deceptively affected. This implies the ground (and by extension, Adonis's unresponsiveness) is uncaring and incapable of appreciating the depth of Venus's emotion.
• "when she seemeth drown’d": This clarifies that any appearance of being overwhelmed by liquid is merely an illusion, not genuine suffering or absorption. The ground is impervious to the emotional impact, just as Adonis is. Shakespeare uses "drunken" to describe a state of insensitivity and lack of true feeling, contrasting with the profound grief implied by being "drown'd" in tears.
• Meaning: "For that ground merely appears intoxicated when it looks as if it were submerged in tears."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza vividly portrays Venus's profound emotional turmoil following Adonis's rejection, but also her inherent majesty and the preciousness of her sorrow. Her tears are not just water; they are "pearls in glass," "orient drops," too valuable to be wasted on the "foul face of the sluttish ground." This intense valuation of her tears speaks volumes about Venus's self-worth and the depth of her passion.

The personification of her cheek "scorning" the tear's fall and the ground being "drunken" rather than "drowned" serves several critical functions. Firstly, it elevates Venus, portraying her as too noble, her sorrow too pure, for anything so base and unappreciative as the ground (a stand-in for Adonis's cold indifference) to receive her lament. This reinforces the theme of unrequited love, where Venus's abundant, fertile passion is met with a barren, unyielding resistance.

Secondly, the stanza highlights the futility of Venus's attempts to sway Adonis. Just as the ground is insensitive to the tears that would seemingly "drown" it, Adonis remains impervious to Venus's fervent pleas and tears. Her emotional outpouring, though precious, fails to penetrate his chaste reserve. This reinforces the poem's broader conflict between active, fertile love (Venus) and passive, chaste resistance (Adonis), lamenting the waste of vital energy and passion on something unresponsive and barren. It underscores the tragic aspect of Venus's love, where even her deepest sorrow is deemed too good for a world (or a beloved) that cannot fully appreciate its worth.