Peer Reviewed
- Edition: Venus and Adonis
Venus and Adonis (Modern)
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2Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,
3Rose-cheeked Adonis hied him to the chase.
4Hunting he loved, but love he laughed to scorn.
5 Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him
6 And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him.
8"The field's chief flower, sweet above compare,
9Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,
10More white and red than doves or roses are.
11 Nature that made thee with herself at strife
12 Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.
14And rein his proud head to the saddlebow.
15If thou wilt deign this favor, for thy meed
16A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know.
17 Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses,
18 And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses.
20But rather famish them amid their plenty,
21Making them red and pale with fresh variety;
22Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty.
23 A summer's day will seem an hour but short,
24 Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport."
26The precedent of pith and livelihood,
27And trembling in her passion, calls it balm,
28Earth's sovereign salve, to do a goddess good.
29 Being so enraged, desire doth lend her force
30 Courageously to pluck him from his horse.