🌹 Stanza 68 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

'Let me excuse thy courser, gentle boy;
And learn of him, I heartily beseech thee,  
To take advantage on presented joy
Though I were dumb, yet his proceedings teach thee.
O learn to love, the lesson is but plain,
And once made perfect, never lost again.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: "'Let me excuse thy courser, gentle boy;"

• "Let me excuse": Venus asks permission to defend or justify the behavior of Adonis's horse. She positions herself as an advocate for the stallion's actions.
• "thy courser": Your war horse, your steed. "Courser" specifically refers to a swift, powerful horse used in battle or hunting.
• "gentle boy": Venus addresses Adonis with affectionate condescension. "Gentle" means both kind and well-born, while "boy" emphasizes his youth and inexperience.
• Meaning: "Let me defend your horse's behavior, dear young man;"

Line 2: "And learn of him, I heartily beseech thee,"

• "learn of him": Take instruction from him, use him as a teacher or example. Venus suggests the horse can be Adonis's instructor in matters of love.
• "I heartily beseech thee": I earnestly, sincerely beg you. "Heartily" emphasizes the depth of her plea, coming from her heart.
• Meaning: "And learn from him, I earnestly beg you,"

Line 3: "To take advantage on presented joy"

• "take advantage on": Seize the opportunity of, make the most of. This is Venus's carpe diem argument—don't let opportunity pass.
• "presented joy": The pleasure or happiness that is currently being offered. Venus refers to the sexual pleasure she is offering him.
• Meaning: "To seize the opportunity for pleasure that's being offered to you"

Line 4: "Though I were dumb, yet his proceedings teach thee."

• "Though I were dumb": Even if I were silent, unable to speak. Venus hypothetically removes her own persuasive words from the equation.
• "yet his proceedings": Nevertheless, his actions, his behavior. The horse's instinctive pursuit of the mare serves as a lesson.
• "teach thee": Would instruct you, would serve as your teacher. The horse becomes a wordless instructor in natural behavior.
• Meaning: "Even if I said nothing, his actions would still teach you."

Line 5: "O learn to love, the lesson is but plain,"

• "O learn to love": An emotional plea for Adonis to acquire the knowledge and skills of loving. The "O" expresses Venus's fervent desire.
• "the lesson is but plain": The instruction is simple, clear, easy to understand. Venus argues that love is not complicated—it's natural and straightforward.
• Meaning: "Oh, learn how to love—the lesson is simple,"

Line 6: "And once made perfect, never lost again."

• "once made perfect": When fully learned, when mastered completely. "Perfect" here means complete or fully developed.
• "never lost again": Will never be forgotten, will become a permanent skill. Venus promises that love, once learned, becomes an enduring ability.
• Meaning: "And once you've mastered it, you'll never lose the skill."

🎭 Literary Devices

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza represents Venus's attempt to use the successful horse courtship as a teaching tool, shifting from direct seduction to educational persuasion. She positions herself as both advocate and teacher, using the stallion's success as proof of her argument.

Natural Instinct as Teacher: Venus argues that the horse's instinctive behavior provides a better lesson than human reasoning or moral restrictions. This reflects Renaissance debates about whether humans should follow natural impulses or rational control.

Simplicity vs. Complexity: By claiming the lesson is "plain," Venus counters any intellectual objections Adonis might have. She argues that love is simple and natural, not the complex moral issue he makes it.

Educational Framework: Venus reframes seduction as education, positioning herself as a teacher rather than a predator. This makes her advances seem helpful rather than aggressive.

The Promise of Mastery: Her claim that love, "once made perfect, never lost again" offers Adonis a permanent benefit for temporary submission. This is sophisticated persuasion—presenting short-term compliance as long-term gain.

Evidence-Based Argument: By pointing to the horse's success, Venus provides concrete evidence for her philosophy rather than relying solely on rhetoric.

Maternal-Sexual Confusion: Her address to Adonis as "gentle boy" while teaching him about sexual behavior continues the poem's complex mixing of maternal and erotic love.

Hypothetical Removal of Self: Venus's claim that even without her words, the horse would teach him shows sophisticated rhetoric—she presents "natural" evidence while simultaneously providing verbal interpretation of that evidence.

Failure of the Analogy: The irony is that the horse succeeded because both animals were willing participants, while Adonis remains fundamentally unwilling. Venus's analogy fails because she can't make Adonis desire her the way the stallion desired the mare.

This stanza shows Venus at her most pedagogical, attempting to transform seduction into education, but it also reveals the fundamental flaw in her approach: you cannot teach someone to desire what they fundamentally do not want.