🌹 Stanza 168 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘Tis not my fault: the boar provok’d my tongue;
Be wreak’d on him, invisible commander;    
‘Tis he, foul creature, that hath done thee wrong;
I did but act, he ‘s author of my slander:
Grief hath two tongues: and never woman yet,
Could rule them both without ten women’s wit.’

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘Tis not my fault: the boar provok’d my tongue;

• "‘Tis not my fault": A contraction of "It is not my fault." Venus immediately denies responsibility for the harsh words she just spoke to Adonis, attempting to shift the blame.
• "the boar provok’d my tongue": "Provoked" means incited, stimulated, or caused to act. "My tongue" is a metonymy for her speech or words. Venus is claiming that her fear and anxiety over Adonis's dangerous pursuit of the boar, rather than her own will, caused her to speak sharply. The boar symbolizes the source of her distress.
• Meaning: "It is not my fault; the distress and fear caused by your dangerous obsession with the boar incited my harsh words."

Line 2: Be wreak’d on him, invisible commander;

• "Be wreak’d on him": "Wreaked" means avenged or punished. This is an imperative, meaning "Let vengeance be taken on him."
• "invisible commander": An apostrophe, a direct address to an unseen, abstract force. This could refer to Cupid (her son, who directs the pangs of love), fate, or even a personified form of grief or emotion itself, which Venus sees as controlling her actions. She continues to externalize the blame.
• Meaning: "Let vengeance be taken upon that unseen power, that hidden director, for causing my outburst."

Line 3: ‘Tis he, foul creature, that hath done thee wrong;

• "‘Tis he, foul creature": "‘Tis he" again means "It is he." The "he" refers back to the boar from line 1, personifying it as an active agent. "Foul creature" expresses Venus's disgust and intensified blame towards the animal, which she sees as the root cause of her emotional turmoil.
• "that hath done thee wrong": "Hath" means has. "Thee wrong" means done a disservice or harm to you. Venus is speaking to Adonis, claiming the boar is the true wrongdoer, not only to her (by causing her grief) but also to him (by making her speak harshly to him).
• Meaning: "It is that boar, that repulsive animal, that has truly wronged you (by causing me to speak so cruelly)."

Line 4: I did but act, he ‘s author of my slander:

• "I did but act": "But" means merely or only. "Act" means to perform a role, implying she was simply an instrument or vessel, not the true originator of the words. She presents herself as a passive agent.
• "he ‘s author of my slander": "Author" means the originator or instigator. "Slander" here refers to the hurtful, accusatory, and potentially false words she just uttered to Adonis. Venus claims the boar (or the grief it caused) is the true source and instigator of her offensive speech.
• Meaning: "I was merely performing a part; the boar (or the grief it caused) is the true originator of the harsh and unfair words I spoke about you."

Line 5: Grief hath two tongues: and never woman yet,

• "Grief hath two tongues": "Hath" means has. This is a personification of grief. The "two tongues" metaphorically represent the contradictory and often uncontrolled expressions that grief can produce – perhaps oscillating between love and anger, or tenderness and harshness. It suggests a lack of coherence or control over one's speech when overwhelmed by sorrow.
• "and never woman yet": "Yet" means up to this point or ever. Venus generalizes her experience, implying this is a universal truth about women under the influence of strong emotion, setting up her final excuse.
• Meaning: "Grief has the capacity to make one speak in two conflicting ways, and no woman has ever yet..."

Line 6: Could rule them both without ten women’s wit.’

• "Could rule them both": "Rule" means to control or manage. "Them both" refers to the "two tongues" of grief.
• "without ten women’s wit": "Wit" refers to intelligence, wisdom, or shrewdness. "Ten women’s wit" is a hyperbole, an extreme exaggeration, meaning an extraordinary and practically impossible amount of intelligence or self-control. She implies that no ordinary woman possesses the mental capacity to control such contradictory impulses when consumed by grief.
• Meaning: "...managed to control both these conflicting expressions of grief without possessing the combined intelligence and wisdom of ten women."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza serves as Venus's immediate, dramatic retraction and excuse for her harsh outburst towards Adonis. Overcome by fear for his safety and frustration with his indifference to her advances, she had just lashed out at him. Here, she attempts to absolve herself of blame, attributing her "slander" to external forces – the boar (representing Adonis's dangerous obsession and the cause of her anxiety), an "invisible commander" (perhaps Cupid or fate), and the overwhelming power of "Grief" itself.

The stanza's overall meaning centers on Venus's inability to control her intense emotions when faced with the threat of loss. She paints a picture of herself as a mere instrument, a mouthpiece for the powerful, contradictory impulses of grief, which she personifies as having "two tongues." Her final lines about needing "ten women’s wit" to control such emotions generalize her experience, implying that women are inherently susceptible to emotional volatility, thus providing a gendered excuse for her behavior.

In the broader context of the poem, this stanza highlights several key themes: * The Power of Passion: It underscores the overwhelming and sometimes destructive force of unrequited or threatened love. Venus, the goddess of love, is ironically shown to be a victim of her own powerful emotions, unable to master them. Her passion for Adonis leads not only to ardent pursuit but also to frustration, anger, and self-justification. * Gender Roles and Expectations: Venus's concluding lines reflect contemporary societal attitudes, or at least a convenient rhetorical strategy, regarding female emotionality. By claiming that no woman can control the "two tongues" of grief without an impossible amount of "wit," she frames her outburst as an inevitable, almost universal, feminine reaction to extreme emotional distress. * Blame and Responsibility: The stanza showcases Venus's dramatic and self-preserving nature. She avoids taking personal responsibility for her words, externalizing the blame onto the boar, fate, or the abstract concept of grief. This tendency foreshadows her later lamentations and self-pity after Adonis's death. * Foreshadowing and Irony: Her intense fear of the boar, which she blames for provoking her tongue, is tragically justified. The boar is indeed the agent of Adonis's demise, making her dramatic fears and accusations darkly ironic as the narrative progresses towards its tragic conclusion.