Venus and Adonis (Modern)
Peer Reviewed
¶Never did passenger in summer's heat
¶More thirst for drink than she for this good turn.
¶Her help she sees, but help she cannot get.
¶She bathes in water, yet her fire must burn.
95_"O, pity," gan she cry, "flint-hearted boy,
¶_'Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy?
¶"I have been wooed, as I entreat thee now,
¶Even by the stern and direful god of war,
¶Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow,
100Who conquers where he comes in every jar.
¶_Yet hath he been my captive and my slave,
¶_And begged for that which thou unasked shalt have.
¶"Over my altars hath he hung his lance,
¶His battered shield, his uncontrollèd crest,
105And for my sake hath learned to sport and dance,
¶To toy, to wanton, dally, smile, and jest,
¶_Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red,
¶_Making my arms his field, his tent my bed.
