Venus and Adonis

From Freepedia

Venus and Adonis is one of Shakespeare's longer poems.

Though included in most collections of his collected works, his Sonnets tend to receive greater critical attention. As the title implies, the poem features Venus and Adonis from classical myth.

Shakespeare begins the work with a dedication to the Earl of Southampton.

As Adonis is preparing to go hunting, Venus "seizeth on his sweating palm" and "Backward she push'd him, as she would be thrust" (for purposes of sexual intercourse). We find next that "Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face," while Venus tells him "Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight." Her pleadings that he stay with her are in vain, and the next day Adonis is killed as he hunts boar.

External links

• Venus and Adonis Full Text.

Image:Shakespeare2.jpg	The works of William Shakespeare
Tragedies:	Romeo and Juliet | Macbeth | King Lear | Hamlet | Othello | Titus Andronicus | Julius Caesar | Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Troilus and Cressida | Timon of Athens
Comedies:	A Midsummer Night's Dream | All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | Cardenio (lost) | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Love's Labour's Won (lost) | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Taming of the Shrew | The Comedy of Errors | The Tempest | Twelfth Night | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
Histories:	King John | Edward III (attributed) | Richard II | Henry IV, part 1 | Henry IV, part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III | Henry VIII
Other works:	Sonnets | Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle
See also:	Shakespeare on screen | Titles based on Shakespeare