🌹 Stanza 4 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘And yet not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety,
But rather famish them amid their plenty,    
Making them red and pale with fresh variety;
Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:
A summer’s day will seem an hour but short,
Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.’

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘And yet not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety,

"cloy": To sicken with an excessive sweetness or richness; to satiate to the point of disgust. Shakespeare uses this to promise that the kisses will never become tiresome or overbearing, implying a perpetual delight.
"thy lips": Refers to Adonis's lips. Venus is speaking, attempting to entice him into intimacy.
"loath’d satiety": Hateful or disgusting over-fullness; a state of being completely surfeited, leading to aversion. Venus assures Adonis that the pleasure she offers will not lead to the weariness or disgust that often accompanies an abundance of something.
Meaning: "And yet, my kisses will not make your lips feel sick or disgusted from being overly full or surfeited."

Line 2: But rather famish them amid their plenty,

"famish them": To starve them; to make them intensely desire more. This creates a paradox, as one is typically famished from a lack of something.
"amid their plenty": Despite having an abundance or receiving a great deal. The phrase highlights a paradox: even as Adonis receives many kisses, the pleasure will be so exquisite and stimulating that it will only intensify his desire, leaving him always wanting more, rather than satisfied.
Meaning: "Instead, my kisses will make your lips crave more, even though they will be receiving an abundance of them."

Line 3: Making them red and pale with fresh variety;

"red and pale": Refers to the changing complexion and color of the lips (and possibly face) due to the intensity and passion of the kisses. "Red" suggests a flushed, passionate, and active state, while "pale" might indicate moments of breathless excitement, awe, or a temporary draining of color from intense sensation. It emphasizes the dynamic and overwhelming nature of the experience.
"fresh variety": Continuous newness and change. The kisses will not be monotonous but will offer diverse sensations and intensities, ensuring the experience remains exciting and never dull.
Meaning: "My kisses will make your lips change color, becoming flushed and then pale, due to the exciting and ever-changing nature of our embrace."

Line 4: Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:

"Ten kisses short as one": So enjoyable and engrossing that ten kisses will feel as fleeting as a single one. This emphasizes the swift passage of time when one is deeply absorbed in pleasure.
"one long as twenty": A single kiss will be so profound and packed with sensation that it will feel as rich and satisfying as twenty kisses. This highlights the depth, intensity, and fullness of the experience.
Meaning: "Ten kisses will feel as brief as a single one, and a single kiss will feel as extended and fulfilling as twenty."

Line 5: A summer’s day will seem an hour but short,

"A summer’s day": A long, pleasant, and usually ample period of time.
"seem an hour but short": Will feel incredibly brief, like a mere hour, and a very short one at that. This hyperbolically emphasizes how quickly time seems to pass when one is engaged in profound pleasure, reinforcing the idea of time distortion established in the previous line.
Meaning: "A long summer's day will seem to pass in just a short hour."

Line 6: Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.’

"wasted": Here, "wasted" is used with a double meaning. On Venus's part, it means "spent" or "consumed" entirely in a delightful manner, suggesting complete absorption. However, for Adonis, it might subtly hint at time that could be spent hunting, indicating a potential conflict in their desires.
"time-beguiling": "Beguile" means to charm, enchant, amuse, or divert attention pleasantly, often causing time to pass unnoticed. It also carries a secondary meaning of deceiving. Here, it implies that the activity is so captivating that it makes time fly by without being perceived.
"sport": Pleasurable activity, often referring to play or amorous dalliance. Here, it refers to the act of kissing and intimacy that Venus is proposing.
Meaning: "Because it will be entirely spent and absorbed in such charming and time-deceiving pleasure."

🎭 Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Paradox	"famish them amid their plenty" (Line 2)	Highlights the insatiable nature of desire; the pleasure is so exquisite it only intensifies the craving, ensuring the experience never dulls.
Hyperbole	"Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty" (Line 4); "A summer’s day will seem an hour but short" (Line 5)	Emphasizes the overwhelming intensity and consuming nature of the pleasure, which distorts the perception of time and sensation.
Antithesis / Juxtaposition	"red and pale" (Line 3); "short as one, one long as twenty" (Line 4)	Creates vivid and dynamic imagery, highlighting the contrasting sensations and the depth and variety of the experience.
Alliteration	"cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety" (Line 1); "famish them amid their plenty" (Line 2); "time-beguiling sport" (Line 6)	Adds a musicality and rhythmic quality to the verse, making the lines more memorable and emphasizing key words and concepts.
Wordplay / Double Meaning	"wasted" (Line 6); "beguiling" (Line 6)	"Wasted" implies both time pleasantly spent and, from Adonis's perspective, time diverted from his preferred pursuits. "Beguiling" means charming but also subtly deceptive, hinting at the persuasive nature of Venus's arguments.
Sensory Imagery	"red and pale" (Line 3); "cloy thy lips" (Line 1)	Engages the reader's senses, making the description of the kisses more vivid and immediate, enhancing the seductive appeal.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza is a powerful continuation of Venus's fervent and elaborate attempt to persuade the chaste Adonis to engage in physical love with her. It showcases her rhetorical skill and relentless desire, as she paints an almost mythical picture of the pleasures she offers.

The core meaning of the stanza revolves around the transcendence and distortion of ordinary experience through intense pleasure. Venus promises an experience of kissing that defies logic: it will never lead to satiety but instead create an insatiable longing ("famish them amid their plenty"). This highlights the overwhelming and addictive nature of the desire she embodies. She emphasizes the dynamic and varied nature of their embrace ("red and pale with fresh variety"), promising an experience that is far from monotonous.

Crucially, the stanza introduces the theme of time distortion under the influence of pleasure. Long periods will feel brief, and brief moments will feel immensely extended, suggesting a complete absorption in the moment where external reality fades. This serves to make the proposed intimacy seem all-encompassing and utterly captivating.

In the broader context of Venus and Adonis, this stanza is significant for several reasons:

Establishes Venus's Rhetorical Power and Desire: It demonstrates Venus's persuasive eloquence and her deep, almost overwhelming, passion. Her language is rich with hyperbole and sensory detail, revealing the extent of her desire and her determination to win Adonis over.
Highlights the Nature of Physical Love (from Venus's perspective): For Venus, love is intensely physical, sensory, and boundless. It is a source of infinite pleasure that defies the conventional limits of satisfaction and time. This contrasts sharply with Adonis's chaste and nature-oriented view of love.
Foreshadows Conflict: While Venus presents her proposals as irresistible, the subtle ambiguity in words like "wasted" and "beguiling" (even if positive from her view) hints at Adonis's own perspective. He values his time for hunting, and Venus's "sport" would indeed be "wasted" in his eyes. This stanza thus sets the stage for the fundamental conflict between Venus's sensual, persuasive advances and Adonis's resistance, which is central to the poem's narrative and its exploration of different forms of love and desire.