📚 Overview

🌹 Stanza 38 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

Sometimes she shakes her head, and then his hand;
Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground;   
Sometimes her arms infold him like a band:
She would, he will not in her arms be bound;
And when from thence he struggles to be gone,
She locks her lily fingers one in one.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: "Sometimes she shakes her head, and then his hand;"

Line 2: "Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground;"

Line 3: "Sometimes her arms infold him like a band:"

Line 4: "She would, he will not in her arms be bound;"

Line 5: "And when from thence he struggles to be gone,"

Line 6: "She locks her lily fingers one in one."

🎭 Literary Devices

Device Example Effect
Simile "infold him like a band" (Line 3) Compares Venus's embrace to a restrictive tie, emphasizing its possessive and almost coercive nature.
Contrast/Juxtaposition "Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground" (Line 2); "She would, he will not" (Line 4) Highlights Venus's conflicting emotions/actions and the fundamental opposition between her desire and Adonis's refusal.
Imagery "lily fingers" (Line 6) Creates a vivid visual of Venus's beautiful, delicate hands, contrasting with the forceful action of "locks." Also "shakes her head," "gazeth," "infold," "struggles" create vivid action.
Alliteration "Sometimes she shakes" (Line 1) Adds a rhythmic and emphatic quality to Venus's actions, drawing attention to her persistent efforts.
Repetition/Parallelism "Sometimes she shakes... Sometimes her arms" (Lines 1 & 3); "Now gazeth she... now on the ground" (Line 2) Emphasizes the recurring and persistent nature of Venus's actions and her varying emotional states.
Personification (Subtle) Venus's active, almost predatory, pursuit of Adonis. While not explicitly personifying an inanimate object, the description of Venus's actions gives her a very tangible, almost animalistic determination in her pursuit.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza offers a powerful and intimate portrayal of Venus's relentless and increasingly physical pursuit of Adonis, juxtaposed against his steadfast resistance. It vividly illustrates the escalating tension between desire and aversion. Each line details a different facet of Venus's approach, from subtle gestures of frustration (shaking her head) and longing (gazing) to overtly aggressive and binding embraces ("infold him like a band," "locks her lily fingers"). The clear contrast between her passionate will ("She would") and his firm refusal ("he will not") underscores the central conflict of unrequited love and the power imbalance between the goddess and the mortal. Adonis's "struggles to be gone" highlight his active discomfort and his fervent desire for freedom, positioning him as a reluctant victim rather than a willing participant.

In the broader context of Venus and Adonis, this stanza is highly significant as it amplifies the poem's core themes of sexual desire versus youthful innocence, and the often-coercive nature of passionate love when unchecked. The imagery of Venus holding Adonis "like a band" and trying to keep him "bound" foreshadows the suffocating and ultimately tragic consequences of her relentless pursuit. It de-romanticizes her desire, revealing it as a force that can imprison rather than liberate. The beautiful "lily fingers" being used to "lock" him creates a striking paradox, suggesting that even beauty and love can become tools of entrapment. This stanza thus deepens the poem's exploration of desire as a powerful, sometimes destructive, force that disregards personal autonomy, laying groundwork for Adonis's ultimate escape into death rather than submission to Venus.

📚 Overview