🌹 Stanza 46 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

His ears up-prick’d; his braided hanging mane
Upon his compass’d crest now stand on end;  
His nostrils drink the air, and forth again,
As from a furnace, vapours doth he send:
His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire,
Shows his hot courage and his high desire.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: His ears up-prick’d; his braided hanging mane

• "His ears up-prick’d": Refers to the boar's ears standing erect and alert, a sign of heightened awareness, attention, or aggression. "Prick'd" means to stand up sharply or erectly. Shakespeare uses this to immediately convey the boar's heightened state.
• "his braided hanging mane": Describes the boar's thick, coarse mane. "Braided" could suggest it's matted, tangled, or rope-like, emphasizing its wild and unkempt nature. "Hanging" indicates its length and natural fall. This imagery contributes to the powerful and formidable appearance of the animal.
• Meaning: "The boar's ears stood sharply erect; his thick, tangled mane, which usually hung down,"

Line 2: Upon his compass’d crest now stand on end;

• "Upon his compass’d crest":
  • "compass’d": Means rounded, arched, or curved, referring to the powerful, muscular arch of the boar's neck or shoulder hump. It conveys the animal's solid and formidable build.
  • "crest": The top part of the neck where the mane grows.
• "now stand on end": The mane, previously described as "hanging," is now standing upright, a phenomenon known as piloerection. This is a common animalistic reaction to fear, aggression, or a challenge, indicating the boar's readiness for confrontation.
• Meaning: "upon his arched neck, now stood on end;"

Line 3: His nostrils drink the air, and forth again,

• "His nostrils drink the air": A vivid use of personification. "Drink" suggests a deep, vigorous, almost thirsty intake of air, implying the boar is inhaling powerfully to scent his surroundings or prepare for exertion. Shakespeare's choice of "drink" rather than simply "breathe" emphasizes the intensity and energy of the inhalation.
• Meaning: "His nostrils powerfully inhale the air, and then,"

Line 4: As from a furnace, vapours doth he send:

• "As from a furnace": A strong simile comparing the boar's exhalations to the hot, steaming emissions from a furnace. This emphasizes the boar's intense internal heat, immense power, and potentially its rage. It suggests a creature burning with energy and ferocity.
• "vapours doth he send": Refers to the hot breath or steam expelled from the boar's nostrils. "Doth he send" is an archaic way of saying "he sends." This further reinforces the image of a creature radiating heat and power.
• Meaning: "like from a hot furnace, he expels clouds of hot breath:"

Line 5: His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire,

• "His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire":
  • "scornfully": Implies contempt, disdain, or fierce defiance. The boar's gaze is not merely bright but conveys an aggressive, challenging attitude.
  • "glisters like fire": A powerful simile comparing the boar's eyes to glittering, burning fire. This highlights their intense, dangerous, and almost supernatural quality, emphasizing the animal's untamed ferocity and vital energy.
• Meaning: "His eye, which glitters with a scornful, fiery intensity,"

Line 6: Shows his hot courage and his high desire.

• "Shows his hot courage": "Hot" links back to the imagery of the "furnace" and "fire" from earlier lines, suggesting an intense, fiery, and perhaps impulsive bravery or ferocity. It conveys a deep, burning will to fight.
• "and his high desire": Refers to the boar's strong intention, will, or primal instinct, specifically its eagerness for confrontation or its powerful drive to dominate. It signifies not just physical readiness but a psychological readiness for battle.
• Meaning: "reveals his fierce bravery and his strong will to fight."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza provides a detailed and powerful description of the wild boar, the instrument of Adonis's tragic death. It transforms the animal from a mere beast into an almost mythical force of nature, brimming with untamed energy, aggression, and an unyielding will. Every detail, from its pricked ears and bristling mane to its fiery eyes and furnace-like breath, emphasizes its formidable strength and readiness for combat.

In the broader context of "Venus and Adonis," this description is highly significant. The boar symbolizes a dangerous, primal, and uncontrollable masculine energy, contrasting sharply with Adonis's more effeminate and reluctant nature. Just as Venus's intense and aggressive sexual desire for Adonis proves overwhelming and ultimately destructive to him, the boar's unbridled "hot courage and his high desire" for battle similarly overwhelms and destroys Adonis. The stanza foreshadows the inevitable and brutal confrontation, painting the boar as a worthy, albeit terrifying, antagonist. It reinforces the poem's themes of the destructive power of unbridled passion and the perilous beauty of the natural world, particularly when confronted by human vulnerability. The boar's "high desire" is a destructive counterpart to Venus's "high desire," both leading to the tragic demise of the beautiful Adonis.