🌹 Stanza 9 - Literary Analysis

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis

📖 Original Stanza

He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears
Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks;
Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs
To fan and blow them dry again she seeks:  
He saith she is immodest, blames her miss;
What follows more she murders with a kiss.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Line 1: "He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears"

"He burns with bashful shame": Adonis's face is intensely red, as if on fire, due to his extreme embarrassment and modesty. The word "burns" emphasizes the intensity and visible nature of his blush, indicating a strong emotional reaction to Venus's advances.
"she with her tears": This introduces Venus's immediate reaction, which is to cry. Her tears are presented as a contrast to Adonis's fiery blush, setting up a dynamic of opposing elements.
Meaning: Adonis's face is flushed bright red with extreme embarrassment and modesty; meanwhile, Venus responds by shedding tears.

Line 2: "Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks;"

"Doth quench": "Does extinguish" or "puts out." Her tears are depicted as having the power to put out the "fire" (blush) on his cheeks.
"maiden burning": This refers to the blush on Adonis's cheeks, which is described as "maiden" to emphasize his youth, innocence, and inexperience with sexual advances, making his modesty seem pure and untouched. The "burning" is the heat and redness of his blush. Shakespeare chose "maiden" to highlight Adonis's virginal purity and contrast it with Venus's aggressive, experienced sensuality.
Meaning: Her tears effectively put out or cool the innocent, youthful blush that reddens his cheeks.

Line 3: "Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs"

"windy sighs": Her sighs are deep, forceful, and expansive, like wind, suggesting intense emotion—either passion, frustration, or despair at his rejection. The "windy" quality implies a physical force behind her emotion.
"golden hairs": This describes Venus's beautiful, lustrous hair, emphasizing her captivating physical beauty and allure. She is using her physical attributes in her continued attempt to seduce him.
Meaning: Following this, she uses her deep, forceful sighs and her beautiful, golden hair

Line 4: "To fan and blow them dry again she seeks:"

"To fan and blow them dry again": "Them" refers to his cheeks, which were just wet with her tears. This action suggests she is leaning in close to him, both drying his face and perhaps trying to re-ignite the "burning" (passion or blush) she had just quenched, or simply to erase the visible sign of her tears. The words "fan and blow" relate back to the fire imagery, as if trying to revive a dying flame.
"she seeks": She attempts or endeavors to do this.
Meaning: in an attempt to dry his cheeks, perhaps to restore their warmth or to remove the evidence of her tears.

Line 5: "He saith she is immodest, blames her miss;"

"He saith": He says. This is Adonis's first direct verbal rejection of Venus.
"she is immodest": Adonis accuses Venus of being shameless, lacking proper restraint, or behaving improperly, particularly in her forward and aggressive sexual advances. This is a direct moral condemnation.
"blames her miss": He accuses her of a fault, error, or transgression. "Miss" here means a mistake, wrong action, or misconduct. He is explicitly blaming her for her inappropriate and unwelcome behavior.
Meaning: He explicitly tells her that she is shameless and criticizes her for her improper behavior.

Line 6: "What follows more she murders with a kiss."

"What follows more": This refers to any further words or protests Adonis was about to utter, or any further rejection he was preparing to articulate.
"she murders with a kiss": Venus silences Adonis's words or objections by kissing him. The strong verb "murders" suggests an aggressive, definitive, and almost violent act of suppression. It's a metaphorical "killing" of his voice or will, preventing him from expressing further refusal or condemnation. This highlights her complete domination over him at this moment.
Meaning: Whatever he was about to say next, she violently silences it completely with a kiss.

🎭 Literary Devices

Device	Example	Effect
Metaphor	"He burns with bashful shame" (Line 1)	Compares Adonis's intense blush to fire, emphasizing the heat and visible intensity of his embarrassment.
Metaphor	"maiden burning of his cheeks" (Line 2)	Extends the fire metaphor, specifically qualifying the blush as "maiden" to signify his youthful innocence and purity, highlighting his unreadiness for sexual experience.
Metaphor	"What follows more she murders with a kiss." (Line 6)	Compares the act of silencing Adonis with a kiss to a violent killing. This conveys the forceful and suppressive nature of Venus's action, demonstrating her dominance and his helplessness against her advances. It's a dramatic and vivid image of his will being overcome.
Personification	"tears / Doth quench" (Lines 1-2)	Attributes the human action of "quenching" (putting out a fire) to Venus's tears, making them an active agent in her attempt to control Adonis's emotional state.
Antithesis/Juxtaposition	"burns" (Line 1) vs. "quench" (Line 2) and "fan and blow dry" (Line 4)	Creates a striking contrast between heat/fire and cold/water, representing the opposing forces of Adonis's shame/purity and Venus's passionate advances. Venus's actions are contradictory (quenching then drying) yet all serve her singular aim of seduction.
Alliteration	"burns with bashful" (Line 1)	Creates a soft, whispering effect, drawing attention to Adonis's internal state of modesty.
Alliteration	"maiden burning" (Line 2)	Emphasizes the innocence and youthfulness of Adonis's blush, highlighting his vulnerability.
Alliteration	"blames her miss" (Line 5)	Gives a crisp, almost spitting sound to Adonis's verbal rejection, underscoring his indignation.
Alliteration	"murders with a kiss" (Line 6)	The repetition of the 'm' sound adds a sinister and definitive tone to Venus's aggressive act, reinforcing the finality of her suppression of Adonis's voice.
Imagery (Sensory)	"golden hairs" (Line 3)	Evokes the visual beauty and allure of Venus, reminding the reader of her divine charm and physical appeal which she actively employs in her pursuit.
Oxymoron/Paradox	"murders with a kiss" (Line 6)	The act of a "kiss," typically associated with love and affection, is here described as "murder." This creates a powerful paradox that underscores the aggressive, violating, and silencing nature of Venus's action, transforming a tender gesture into one of forceful domination.

🎯 Overall Meaning & Significance in the Context of the Poem

This stanza is a pivotal moment in the unfolding drama between Venus and Adonis, intensifying the central conflict of the poem. It vividly illustrates Venus's relentless and multifaceted pursuit of Adonis, and Adonis's increasingly desperate, though ultimately futile, attempts to resist her.

The stanza opens with a striking portrayal of Adonis's profound discomfort, described as "burning with bashful shame." This emphasizes his youth, innocence, and aversion to Venus's overt advances. Venus's immediate response – shedding tears – initially appears to be a display of vulnerability, and indeed, her tears "quench the maiden burning of his cheeks," perhaps momentarily disarming him or cooling his embarrassment. However, her subsequent actions reveal her true intent: she swiftly attempts to "fan and blow them dry again" with her "windy sighs and golden hairs," a rapid shift from appeasement to renewed, sensual pressure. This demonstrates her determined, almost predatory, nature, as she cycles through different tactics to achieve her goal.

The stanza then marks Adonis's first explicit verbal rejection of Venus: "He saith she is immodest, blames her miss." This direct accusation is a significant moment, showing Adonis finally articulating his discomfort and moral disapproval. However, Venus's response is the ultimate act of silencing: "What follows more she murders with a kiss." This powerful line encapsulates Venus's overwhelming dominance and the futility of Adonis's verbal resistance. The "murdering" kiss is not an act of affection, but an act of conquest and suppression, effectively stifling his voice and will.

In the broader context of Venus and Adonis, this stanza reinforces several key themes:

Unrequited Love and Desire: It highlights the stark imbalance of desire, with Venus's passionate pursuit clashing against Adonis's resolute disinterest and modesty.
The Power Dynamics of Seduction: Venus is consistently portrayed as the aggressor, employing various means—emotional display, physical charm, and ultimately, physical force—to dominate Adonis. Adonis, despite his moral objections, is largely passive and reactive.
Innocence vs. Experience: Adonis's "maiden burning" symbolizes his youthful innocence, which is under siege by Venus's experienced and assertive sexuality. The poem explores the vulnerability of innocence when confronted with overwhelming passion.
The Nature of Love (or Lust): Venus's actions, particularly the "murdering" kiss, suggest a coercive and even destructive aspect of her "love," blurring the lines between passionate desire and forceful appropriation. This foreshadows the ultimate tragic outcome where Venus's love, in a twisted way, leads to Adonis's death.

The rapid succession of contrasting actions (blush, tears, quenching, fanning, verbal rejection, silencing kiss) also reflects the chaotic and intense nature of their encounter, emphasizing the almost violent struggle for control and autonomy.