🌹 Stanza 87 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

‘A thousand kisses buys my heart from me;
And pay them at thy leisure, one by one.
What is ten hundred touches unto thee?
Are they not quickly told and quickly gone?
Say, for non-payment that the debt should double,
Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?’

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: ‘A thousand kisses buys my heart from me;’

"A thousand kisses": This is a hyperbole, an exaggeration for rhetorical effect, indicating a large, overwhelming number. Venus is setting an extravagant "price," not literally for her heart, but for her affection or surrender to his advances. Shakespeare uses this number to emphasize the depth of her desire and the potential pleasure involved.
"buys my heart from me": This is a metaphor, framing the act of winning her affection or sexual favors as a commercial transaction. She is not literally selling her heart, but suggesting that such an act of kissing would make her yield to him. The phrase "from me" emphasizes that she possesses this heart and is offering it, highlighting her agency in the proposed exchange, even as she attempts to persuade Adonis.
Meaning: "My affection (or my yielding to your desires) can be obtained for a price of a thousand kisses."

Line 2: ‘And pay them at thy leisure, one by one.’

"pay them": Continues the extended metaphor of love as a financial transaction introduced in the previous line, reinforcing the idea of a 'debt' or 'price' for her affection.
"at thy leisure": This means "at your convenience" or "without haste." Venus suggests there's no rush, implying that the process should be savored, enjoyed, and prolonged rather than being a quick, burdensome task. It's a persuasive tactic to make the 'debt' seem less daunting.
"one by one": This phrase emphasizes a methodical, deliberate, and intimate approach to the kisses. It prolongs the sensual anticipation and suggests a thorough, unhurried enjoyment of each kiss, further highlighting Venus's desire for extended physical intimacy.
Meaning: "And you can deliver these kisses slowly and at your own pace, one after another."

Line 3: ‘What is ten hundred touches unto thee?’

"ten hundred touches": This is a restatement of "a thousand kisses," using a slightly different numerical phrasing ("ten hundred" instead of "a thousand") which might make it sound more concrete or less abstract to Adonis. "Touches" here serves as a broader term for kisses, potentially implying a wider range of physical contact and intimacy beyond just the lips, enhancing the sensual appeal.
"unto thee": This means "to you" or "in your opinion/experience." It's part of a rhetorical question directly aimed at Adonis, challenging him to admit that such a number of 'touches' should not be a significant burden or an unreasonable demand for him.
Meaning: "How much difficulty or significance do a thousand kisses (or touches) truly pose to you?"

Line 4: ‘Are they not quickly told and quickly gone?’

"told": In this context, "told" means counted or enumerated. This continues the financial/transactional metaphor, treating kisses as countable units in an exchange.
"quickly gone": This implies that the experience of giving or receiving kisses is fleeting, momentary, and over relatively swiftly. It's another persuasive tactic by Venus, suggesting that if the act is brief, there's little reason for Adonis to resist or consider it a major commitment. It also subtly hints at the transient nature of pleasure.
Meaning: "Aren't kisses easily counted and soon over with?"

Line 5: ‘Say, for non-payment that the debt should double,’

"Say": This is an imperative, meaning "Suppose" or "Imagine." Venus is setting up a hypothetical scenario.
"for non-payment": This phrase directly continues the extended financial metaphor, implying a penalty for failing to fulfill the initial 'debt' of kisses.
"that the debt should double": This is a clever and playful, yet manipulative, rhetorical move. Venus is suggesting a "penalty" for Adonis's potential refusal, but the "penalty" is an increase in the very thing she desires—more kisses. It turns his potential resistance into an opportunity for more pleasure for her, increasing the stakes and making her desire seem overwhelming.
Meaning: "Let's imagine, if you were to fail in paying this initial amount, that the debt would then increase twofold."

Line 6: ‘Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?’

"twenty hundred kisses": This refers to two thousand kisses, the doubled "debt" from the previous line. Venus hyperbolically increases the number to emphasize her point and to make the initial "thousand" seem even less significant by comparison.
"such a trouble": This is another rhetorical question, designed to make Adonis feel that his resistance is unreasonable or that he is overstating the difficulty of the task. Venus implies that even this larger number is trivial and should not be an impediment to her desire.
Meaning: "Would even two thousand kisses truly be such a significant effort or bother?"

🎭 Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Extended Metaphor	"buys my heart," "pay them," "debt should double," "non-payment"	Venus frames love and physical intimacy as a commercial transaction or a debt. This reduces the emotional and spiritual complexity of love to a quantifiable, manageable exchange, hoping to make her proposition seem less daunting and more logical to Adonis. It highlights her pragmatic and persuasive approach to desire.
Hyperbole	"A thousand kisses," "twenty hundred kisses"	Exaggeration used to emphasize the scale of Venus's desire and the seemingly vast, yet playfully presented, 'price' for her affection. It makes her demands seem grand yet, paradoxically, by the end of the stanza, trivialized by her rhetorical questions, aiming to overwhelm Adonis with the sheer quantity while simultaneously downplaying their individual significance.
Rhetorical Question	"What is ten hundred touches unto thee?"	Venus uses a series of questions ("What is...?", "Are they not...?", "Is... such a trouble?") not to elicit answers, but to persuade Adonis by implying that the answers are obvious and that his resistance is unreasonable. They put pressure on him by making his reluctance seem illogical and make her propositions seem simple and appealing.
Euphemism	"touches" for kisses	"Touches" is a broader term for physical contact, possibly implying a more generalized form of intimacy beyond just lip-to-lip kisses. It broadens the scope of the desired sensual exchange, perhaps making the offer sound less specific and therefore less demanding, or more encompassing of varied physical pleasures.
Repetition	"quickly told and quickly gone"	The repetition of "quickly" emphasizes the transient and fleeting nature of the kisses, suggesting they are not a long-term commitment but rather a momentary pleasure. This serves as a persuasive tactic to alleviate Adonis's potential hesitation by implying the act will be over swiftly.
Wordplay/Pun	"told" (in "quickly told")	"Told" primarily means "counted" here, continuing the financial metaphor. However, it also subtly plays on the meaning of "narrated" or "spoken," suggesting how easily one can recount (or dismiss) such an act, reinforcing the idea of its brevity and lack of lasting consequence in Venus's persuasive framing.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza is a masterful display of Venus's relentless and multifaceted seductive techniques. She attempts to commodify love and desire, framing her demand for affection as a simple, quantifiable transaction. By proposing a "thousand kisses" and then playfully increasing the "debt" to "twenty hundred" if he fails to pay, she employs a strategy of overwhelming generosity mixed with playful coercion. She downplays the effort required ("at thy leisure," "one by one," "quickly told and quickly gone") while simultaneously escalating the implied stakes.

Significance in the Context of the Poem:

Clash of Desires: The stanza vividly highlights the fundamental conflict between Venus's overt, sensual, and almost transactional approach to love and Adonis's youthful innocence and aversion to such aggressive advances. Venus views love as a physical, quantifiable pleasure, whereas Adonis is repelled by her carnal demands, seeking a more chaste and perhaps idealized form of affection (or simply no affection at all from her).
Theme of Persuasion and Manipulation: This is a prime example of Venus's rhetorical prowess and her attempts to manipulate Adonis. She uses flattery, hyperbole, logical (though flawed) argumentation, and a clever blend of promise and subtle threat (the doubling debt) to wear down his resistance. Her persistence throughout the poem is encapsulated in this stanza.
Gender Dynamics: The stanza subtly explores the power dynamics in seduction, with Venus taking on the traditionally masculine role of aggressor and pursuer. Her direct, almost business-like proposal challenges conventional notions of passive female courtship, yet she ultimately fails to sway Adonis, underscoring the limits of her persuasive power against his innate purity and lack of reciprocated desire.
Dramatic Irony and Foreshadowing: The playful tone of Venus's "debt" and "payment" stands in stark contrast to the poem's tragic resolution. While Venus calculates her desired kisses, Adonis's eventual death becomes the ultimate "payment" for his continued denial of her, turning her lighthearted commercial metaphor into a grim foreshadowing of the fatal consequences of unfulfilled desire and the natural order's response to Adonis's unnatural aversion to love.
Themes of Value and Commodification: The stanza extends the poem's exploration of what is valued and how. Venus reduces love to a commodity, a series of kisses to be exchanged. This contrasts with Adonis's valuing of the hunt and chastity, setting up a clash between different systems of value and desire.