🌹 Stanza 199 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

Thus weary of the world, away she hies,    
And yokes her silver doves; by whose swift aid
Their mistress, mounted, through the empty skies
In her light chariot quickly is convey'd;  
Holding their course to Paphos, where their queen
Means to immure herself and not be seen.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: "Thus weary of the world, away she hies,"

• "Thus weary of the world": In this way tired of earthly existence. Venus is exhausted by her earthly experience.
• "away she hies": She hurries away, she rushes off. Venus departs quickly from the mortal realm.
• Meaning: "Thus exhausted by the world, she hurries away,"

Line 2: "And yokes her silver doves; by whose swift aid"

• "And yokes her silver doves": And harnesses her silver-colored doves to her chariot. These are Venus's sacred birds.
• "by whose swift aid": With whose fast assistance, through whose rapid help. The doves provide speedy transportation.
• Meaning: "And harnesses her silver doves, with whose swift help"

Line 3: "Their mistress, mounted, through the empty skies"

• "Their mistress, mounted": Their owner, seated in her chariot. Venus is the doves' divine mistress.
• "through the empty skies": Across the vacant heavens. The sky is empty, suggesting isolation.
• Meaning: "Their mistress, mounted, travels through the empty skies"

Line 4: "In her light chariot quickly is convey'd;"

• "In her light chariot": In her swift, delicate vehicle. The chariot is both lightweight and luminous.
• "quickly is convey'd": Is rapidly transported, is speedily carried. Her departure is swift.
• Meaning: "Is quickly carried in her light chariot;"

Line 5: "Holding their course to Paphos, where their queen"

• "Holding their course to Paphos": Maintaining their flight path to Paphos. This is Venus's sacred island and birthplace.
• "where their queen": Where their divine ruler. Venus is queen of love and the doves.
• Meaning: "Keeping their course to Paphos, where their queen"

Line 6: "Means to immure herself and not be seen."

• "Means to immure herself": Intends to wall herself up, plans to imprison herself. Venus will isolate herself completely.
• "and not be seen": And remain invisible, stay hidden from view. She withdraws from the world entirely.
• Meaning: "Plans to imprison herself and remain unseen."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This final stanza shows Venus's complete withdrawal from the mortal world after her traumatic experience with love and loss. She returns to her divine origins but chooses isolation over participation in either mortal or divine affairs.

The Divine Retreat: Venus's departure represents the withdrawal of love's divine presence from the mortal world. After Adonis's death, the goddess of love abandons humanity.

Self-Imposed Exile: Venus doesn't just return to her divine realm—she chooses to "immure herself," suggesting that even divine society is now unbearable to her.

The Empty Universe: The "empty skies" suggest that Venus's departure leaves the universe diminished and lonely, reflecting her own emotional state.

Return to Origins: Paphos was Venus's birthplace where she first emerged from the sea foam. Her return suggests a desire to restart or retreat to her original, uncomplicated divine state.

The Speed of Escape: The emphasis on swiftness ("hies," "swift," "quickly") shows Venus's desperate need to escape the scene of her trauma as rapidly as possible.

Divine Abandonment: Venus's withdrawal means that love itself has become wounded and hidden from the world, explaining why love will henceforth be troubled (as per her curse).

The End of Accessibility: By choosing to be "not seen," Venus removes herself from human access, making love less available and more mysterious.

Circular Completion: The poem ends where Venus began—as a powerful goddess—but she's now traumatized and withdrawn rather than actively pursuing love.

The Light Chariot: Her "light chariot" suggests both physical lightness (speed) and spiritual illumination, but this light is now departing from the world.

Universal Consequences: Venus's personal trauma becomes cosmic—her withdrawal affects all future human love, making her private grief into universal law.

The Final Isolation: Even in her divine realm, Venus chooses complete solitude, suggesting that love itself has become isolated and self-contained rather than connective.

This stanza completes the transformation of Venus from an active, pursuing goddess of love into a withdrawn, traumatized deity whose absence explains the difficulties of human love. The poem ends not with resolution but with divine abandonment, leaving humanity to face love's challenges without divine guidance.