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This is the tale of a young man and a tug of war between Proserpina and Venus.

Venus had loved Adonis since he was a baby, and decided that the boy would be hers. But she either because she couldn't care for the child or because she was too damn lazy, she asked Proserpina, Queen of the Dead, to play mother for her. Well, after many years the lonely Proserpina became rather close to Adonis and when Venus came to get him she refused, even after Venus came into the Underworld and asked in person. Finally Jupiter stepped in and came up with a compromise. Adonis would spend Autumn and Winter with Proserpina and summer and spring with Venus.

Well one day when Adonis was with Venus, she took him out in her beautiful chariot that traveled with great speed and greater ease. But one day Venus was unable to go hunting with Adonis, and it was that day that he met up with a boar! He sicked his dogs on them and fired at the beast, but hardly hurt the beast, which then tore Adonis to bits in its tusks. Venus heard the boy's cries and rushed to be at his side only to find him dying. She gave him one last kiss as he died. Echo, the Muses, and the Loves all mourned his death, but Adonis could hear none of this in the Underworld.

The poem based on the unfortunate romance between Venus and Adonis written by William Shakespeare was his most popular work during his lifetime. The story told is different from the story in the above node. Shakespeare's poem was based on the last story in Book X of Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which to avenge an action performed by Venus, Cupid's arrow caused her to fall in love with Adonis while one of his lead arrows caused the young Adonis to reject the goddess. Shakespeare's work, written in 1592, details the attempted seduction of Adonis and is full of all kinds of fun sexual innuendos.

Thanks to for the information above and Project Gutenberg for the text below.

by William Shakespeare

    'Villa miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo
    Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.'


    I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished lines
    honour to your heart's content; which I wish may always answer
    your own wish and the world's hopeful expectation.

    Your honour's in all duty,


    EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face
    Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,
    Rose-cheek'd Adonis tried him to the chase;
    Hunting he lov'd, but love he laugh'd to scorn;
    Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,

    'Thrice fairer than myself,' thus she began,
    'The field's chief flower, sweet above compare,
    Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,
    More white and red than doves or roses are;
    Nature that made thee, with herself at strife
    Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.

    'Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed,
    And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow;
    If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed
    A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know:
    Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses;
    And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses:

    'And yet not cloy thy lips with loath'd satiety,
    But rather famish them amid their plenty,
    Making them red and pale with fresh variety;
    Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty:
    A summer's day will seem an hour but short,
    Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport.'

    With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,
    The precedent of pith and livelihood,
    And, trembling in her passion, calls it balm,
    Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good:
    Being so enrag'd, desire doth lend her force
    Courageously to pluck him from his horse.

    Over one arm the lusty courser's rein
    Under her other was the tender boy,
    Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain,
    With leaden appetite, unapt to toy;
    She red and hot as coals of glowing fire
    He red for shame, but frosty in desire.

    The studded bridle on a ragged bough
    The steed is stalled up, and even now
    To tie the rider she begins to prove:
    Backward she push'd him, as she would be thrust,
    And govern'd him in strength, though not in lust.

    So soon was she along, as he was down,
    Each leaning on their elbows and their hips:
    Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown,
    And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken,

    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.

    Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,
    Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone,
    Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste,
    Till either gorge be stuff'd or prey be gone;
    And where she ends she doth anew begin.

    Forc'd to content, but never to obey,
    Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face;
    She feedeth on the steam, as on a prey,
    And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace;
    Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers
    So they were dewd with such distilling showers.

    Look! how a bird lies tangled in a net,
    So fasten'd in her arms Adonis lies;
    Pure shame and aw'd resistance made him fret,
    Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes:
    Rain added to a river that is rank
    Perforce will force it overflow the bank.

    Still she entreats, and prettily entreats,
    For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale;
    Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets,
    'Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale;
    Being red she loves him best; and being white,
    Her best is better'd with a more delight.

    Look how he can, she cannot choose but love;
    And by her fair immortal hand she swears,
    From his soft bosom never to remove,
    Till he take truce with her contending tears,
    Which long have rain'd, making her cheeks all wet;
    And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless debt.

    Upon this promise did he raise his chin
    Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave,
    Who, being look'd on, ducks as quickly in;
    So offers he to give what she did crave;
    But when her lips were ready for his pay,
    He winks, and turns his lips another way.

    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:

    'I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now,
    Even by the stern and direful god of war,
    Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow,
    Who conquers where he comes in every jar;
    Yet hath he been my captive and my slave,
    And begg'd for that which thou unask'd shalt have.

    'Over my altars hath he hung his lance,
    His batter'd shield, his uncontrolled crest,
    And for my sake hath learn'd to sport and dance
    Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red
    Making my arms his field, his tent my bed.

    'Thus he that overrul'd I oversway'd,
    Leading him prisoner in a red-rose chain:
    Strong-temper'd steel his stronger strength obey'd,
    Yet was he servile to my coy disdain.
    For mastering her that foil'd the god of fight.

    The kiss shall be thine own as well as mine:
    What seest thou in the ground? hold up thy head:
    Look in mine eyeballs, there thy beauty lies;
    Then why not lips on lips, since eyes in eyes?

    'Art thou asham'd to kiss? then wink again,
    And I will wink; so shall the day seem night;
    Love keeps his revels where there are but twain;
    Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight:
    These blue-vein'd violets whereon we lean
    Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.

    'The tender spring upon thy tempting lip
    Shows thee unripe, yet mayst thou well be tasted:
    Make use of time, let not advantage slip;
    Beauty within itself should not be wasted:
    Fair flowers that are not gather'd in their prime
    Rot and consume themselves in little time.

    Ill-nurtur'd, crooked, churlish, harsh in voice,
    O'erworn, despised, rheumatic, and cold,
    Thick-sighted, barren, lean, and lacking juice,
    But having no defects, why dost abhor me?

    'Thou canst not see one winkle in my brow;
    Mine eyes are grey and bright, and quick in turning;
    My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow;
    My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning;
    My smooth moist hand, were it with thy hand felt.
    Would in thy palm dissolve, or seem to melt.

    'Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear,
    Or like a fairy, trip upon the green,
    Or, like a nymph, with long dishevell'd hair,
    Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen:
    Love is a spirit all compact of fire,

    Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire.

    'Witness this primrose bank whereon I lie;
    These forceless flowers like sturdy trees support me;
    Two strengthless doves will draw me through the sky,
    Is love so light, sweet boy, and may it be
    That thou shouldst think it heavy unto thee?

    'Is thine own heart to shine own face affected?
    Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left?
    Then woo thyself, be of thyself rejected,
    Steal thine own freedom, and complain on theft.
    Narcissus so himself himself forsook,
    And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.

    'Torches are made to light, jewels to wear,
    Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use,
    Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear;
    Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse:
    Seeds spring from seeds, and beauty breedeth beauty;
    Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty.

    'Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed,
    Unless the earth with thy increase be fed?
    By law of nature thou art bound to breed,
    That thine may live when thou thyself art dead;
    And so in spite of death thou dost survive,
    In that thy likeness still is left alive.'

    By this the love-sick queen began to sweat,
    For where they lay the shadow had forsook them,
    And Titan, tired in the mid-day heat
    With burning eye did hotly overlook them,
    Wishing Adonis had his team to guide,
    So he were like him and by Venus' side.

    And now Adonis with a lazy spright,
    And with a heavy, dark, disliking eye,
    His louring brows o'erwhelming his fair sight,
    Like misty vapours when they blot the sky,
    The sun doth burn my face; I must remove.'

    What bare excuses mak'st thou to be gone!
    I'll sigh celestial breath, whose gentle wind
    Shall cool the heat of this descending sun:
    I'll make a shadow for thee of my hairs;
    If they burn too, I'll quench them with my tears.

    'The sun that shines from heaven shines but warm,
    And lo! I lie between that sun and thee:
    The heat I have from thence doth little harm,
    Thine eye darts forth the fire that burneth me;
    And were I not immortal, life were done
    Between this heavenly and earthly sun.

    'Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel?
    Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth:
    Art thou a woman's son, and canst not feel
    What 'tis to love? how want of love tormenteth?
    O! had thy mother borne so hard a mind,
    She had not brought forth thee, but died unkind.

    'What am I that thou shouldst contemn me this?
    Or what great danger dwells upon my suit?
    What were thy lips the worse for one poor kiss?
    Give me one kiss, I'll give it thee again,
    And one for interest if thou wilt have twain.

    'Fie! lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone,
    Well-painted idol, image dull and dead,
    Statue contenting but the eye alone,
    Thing like a man, but of no woman bred:
    Thou art no man, though of a man's complexion,
    For men will kiss even by their own direction.'

    This said, impatience chokes her pleading tongue,
    And swelling passion doth provoke a pause;
    Red cheeks and fiery eyes blaze forth her wrong;
    Being judge in love, she cannot right her cause:
    And now she weeps, and now she fain would speak,
    And now her sobs do her intendments break.

    Sometimes she shakes her head, and then his hand;
    Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground;
    Sometimes her arms infold him like a band:
    She would, he will not in her arms be bound;
    And when from thence he struggles to be gone,
    She locks her lily fingers one in one.

    Within the circuit of this ivory pale,
    I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer;
    Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale:
    Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry,
    Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.

    'Within this limit is relief enough,
    Sweet bottom-grass and high delightful plain,
    Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
    To shelter thee from tempest and from rain:
    Then be my deer, since I am such a park;
    No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand bark.'

    At this Adonis smiles as in disdain,
    That in each cheek appears a pretty dimple:
    Love made those hollows, if himself were slain,
    He might be buried in a tomb so simple;
    Foreknowing well, if there he came to lie,

    These lovely caves, these round enchanting pits,
    Open'd their mouths to swallow Venus' liking.
    Being mad before, how doth she now for wits?
    Struck dead at first, what needs a second striking?
    Poor queen of love, in thine own law forlorn,
    To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn!

    Now which way shall she turn? what shall she say?
    Her words are done, her woes the more increasing;
    The time is spent, her object will away,
    And from her twining arms doth urge releasing:
    Away he springs, and hasteth to his horse.

    But lo! from forth a copse that neighbours by,
    A breeding jennet, lusty, young, and proud,
    Adonis' tramping courier doth espy,
    And forth she rushes, snorts and neighs aloud:
    The strong-neck'd steed, being tied unto a tree,
    Breaketh his rein, and to her straight goes he.

    Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds,
    And now his woven girths he breaks asunder;
    The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds,
    Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven's thunder;
    The iron bit he crusheth 'tween his teeth,
    Controlling what he was controlled with.

    His ears up-prick'd; his braided hanging mane
    Upon his compass'd crest now stand on end;
    His nostrils drink the air, and forth again,
    As from a furnace, vapours doth he send:
    His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire,
    Shows his hot courage and his high desire.

    Sometime he trots, as if he told the steps,
    With gentle majesty and modest pride;
    Anon he rears upright, curvets and leaps,
    And this I do to captivate the eye
    Of the fair breeder that is standing by.'

    What recketh he his rider's angry stir,
    What cares he now for curb or pricking spur?
    For rich caparisons or trapping gay?
    He sees his love, and nothing else he sees,
    Nor nothing else with his proud sight agrees.
    Look, when a painter would surpass the life,
    In limning out a well-proportion'd steed,
    His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
    As if the dead the living should exceed;
    So did this horse excel a common one,
    In shape, in courage, colour, pace and bone.

    High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong,
    Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide:
    Look, what a horse should have he did not lack,
    Save a proud rider on so proud a back.

    Sometimes he scuds far off, and there he stares;
    Anon he starts at stirring of a feather;
    To bid the wind a base he now prepares,
    And whe'r he run or fly they know not whether;
    For through his mane and tail the high wind sings,
    Fanning the hairs, who wave like feather'd wings.

    He looks upon his love, and neighs unto her;
    She answers him as if she knew his mind;
    She puts on outward strangeness, seems unkind,
    Spurns at his love and scorns the heat he feels,
    Beating his kind embracements with her heels.

    Then, like a melancholy malcontent,
    He vails his tail, that, like a falling plume,
    Cool shadow to his melting buttock lent:
    He stamps, and bites the poor flies in his fume.
    His love, perceiving how he is enrag'd,
    Grew kinder, and his fury was assuag'd.

    His testy master goeth about to take him;
    When lo! the unback'd breeder, full of fear,
    Jealous of catching, swiftly doth forsake him,
    With her the horse, and left Adonis there:
    As they were mad, unto the wood they hie them,
    Outstripping crows that strive to overfly them.

    All swoln with chafing, down Adonis sits,
    Banning his boisterous and unruly beast:
    And now the happy season once more fits,
    That love-sick Love by pleading may be blest;
    For lovers say, the heart hath treble wrong
    When it is barr'd the aidance of the tongue.

    An oven that is stopp'd, or river stay'd,
    Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage:
    So of concealed sorrow may be said;
    Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage;
    But when the heart's attorney once is mute
    The client breaks, as desperate in his suit.

    He sees her coming, and begins to glow,--
    Even as a dying coal revives with wind,--
    And with his bonnet hides his angry brow;
    Looks on the dull earth with disturbed mind,
    Taking no notice that she is so nigh,
    For all askance he holds her in his eye.

    O! what a sight it was, wistly to view
    How she came stealing to the wayward boy;
    To note the fighting conflict of her hue,
    How white and red each other did destroy:
    But now her cheek was pale, and by and by
    It flash'd forth fire, as lightning from the sky.

    Now was she just before him as he sat,
    And like a lowly lover down she kneels;
    With one fair hand she heaveth up his hat,
    Her other tender hand his fair cheek feels:
    His tenderer cheek receives her soft hand's print,
    As apt as new-fall'n snow takes any dint.

    O! what a war of looks was then between them;
    Her eyes petitioners to his eyes suing;
    His eyes saw her eyes as they had not seen them;
    Her eyes woo'd still, his eyes disdain'd the wooing:
    And all this dumb play had his acts made plain

    Full gently now she takes him by the hand,
    A lily prison'd in a gaol of snow,
    Or ivory in an alabaster band;
    So white a friend engirts so white a foe:
    This beauteous combat, wilful and unwilling,
    Show'd like two silver doves that sit a-billing.

    Once more the engine of her thoughts began:
    'O fairest mover on this mortal round,
    Would thou wert as I am, and I a man,
    My heart all whole as thine, thy heart my wound;
    For one sweet look thy help I would assure thee,
    Though nothing but my body's bane would cure thee.'

    And being steel'd, soft sighs can never grave it:
    Then love's deep groans I never shall regard,
    Because Adonis' heart hath made mine hard.'

    My day's delight is past, my horse is gone,
    And 'tis your fault I am bereft him so:
    I pray you hence, and leave me here alone:
    For all my mind, my thought, my busy care,
    Is how to get my palfrey from the mare.'

    Thus she replies: 'Thy palfrey, as he should,
    Welcomes the warm approach of sweet desire:
    Affection is a coal that must be cool'd;
    Else, suffer'd, it will set the heart on fire:
    The sea hath bounds, but deep desire hath none;
    Therefore no marvel though thy horse be gone.

    Servilely master'd with a leathern rein!
    But when he saw his love, his youth's fair fee,
    He held such petty bondage in disdain;
    Throwing the base thong from his bending crest,
    Enfranchising his mouth, his back, his breast.

    'Who sees his true-love in her naked bed,
    Teaching the sheets a whiter hue than white,
    But, when his glutton eye so full hath fed,
    His other agents aim at like delight?
    Who is so faint, that dare not bo so bold
    To touch the fire, the weather being cold?

    'Let me excuse thy courser, gentle boy;
    And learn of him, I heartily beseech thee,
    To take advantage on presented joy
    Though I were dumb, yet his proceedings teach thee.
    O learn to love, the lesson is but plain,
    And once made perfect, never lost again.

    Unless it be a boar, and then I chase it;
    My love to love is love but to disgrace it;
    For I have heard it is a life in death,
    That laughs and weeps, and all but with a breath.

    'Who wears a garment shapeless and unfinish'd?
    Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth?
    If springing things be any jot diminish'd,
    They wither in their prime, prove nothing worth;
    The colt that's back'd and burden'd being young
    Loseth his pride, and never waxeth strong.

    'You hurt my hand with wringing Iet us part,
    And leave this idle theme, this bootless chat:
    Remove your siege from my unyielding heart;
    To love's alarms it will not ope the gate:
    Dismiss your vows, your feigned tears, your flattery;
    For where a heart is hard they make no battery.'

    Thy mermaid's voice hath done me double wrong;
    I had my load before, now press'd with bearing:
    Melodious discord, heavenly tune, harsh-sounding,

    'Had I no eyes but ears, my ears would love
    That inward beauty and invisible;
    Or were I deaf, thy outward parts would move
    Each part in me that were but sensible:
    Though neither eyes nor ears, to hear nor see,
    Yet should I be in love by touching thee.

    'Say, that the sense of feeling were bereft me,
    And nothing but the very smell were left me,
    Yet would my love to thee be still as much;
    For from the stillitory of thy face excelling
    Comes breath perfum'd that breedeth love by smelling.

    'But O! what banquet wert thou to the taste,
    Being nurse and feeder of the other four;
    Would they not wish the feast might ever last,
    And bid Suspicion double-lock the door,
    Lest Jealousy, that sour unwelcome guest,
    Should, by his stealing in, disturb the feast?'

    Once more the ruby-colour'd portal open'd,
    Which to his speech did honey passage yield,
    Like a red morn, that ever yet betoken'd
    Wrack to the seaman, tempest to the field,
    Sorrow to shepherds, woe unto the birds,
    Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.

    This ill presage advisedly she marketh:
    Even as the wind is hush'd before it raineth,
    Or as the wolf doth grin before he barketh,
    Or as the berry breaks before it staineth,
    Or like the deadly bullet of a gun,
    His meaning struck her ere his words begun.

    And at his look she flatly falleth down
    For looks kill love, and love by looks reviveth;
    A smile recures the wounding of a frown;
    But blessed bankrupt, that by love so thriveth!
    The silly boy, believing she is dead
    Claps her pale cheek, till clapping makes it red;

    And all amaz'd brake off his late intent,
    For sharply he did think to reprehend her,
    Which cunning love did wittily prevent:
    Fair fall the wit that can so well defend her!
    For on the grass she lies as she were slain
    Till his breath breatheth life in her again.

    He wrings her nose, he strikes her on the cheeks,
    He bends her fingers, holds her pulses hard,
    He chafes her lips; a thousand ways he seeks
    To mend the hurt that his unkindness marr'd:
    He kisses her; and she, by her good will,
    Will never rise, so he will kiss her still.

    The night of sorrow now is turn'd to day:
    Her two blue windows faintly she up-heaveth,
    Like the fair sun, when in his fresh array
    He cheers the morn, and all the world relieveth:
    And as the bright sun glorifies the sky,
    So is her face illumin'd with her eye;

    Whose beams upon his hairless face are fix'd,
    As if from thence they borrow'd all their shine.
    Were never four such lamps together mix'd,
    Had not his clouded with his brow's repine;
    But hers, which through the crystal tears gave light
    Shone like the moon in water seen by night.

    Or in the ocean drench'd, or in the fire?
    What hour is this? or morn or weary even?
    Do I delight to die, or life desire?
    But now I liv'd, and life was death's annoy;
    But now I died, and death was lively joy.

    Thy eyes' shrewd tutor, that hard heart of thine,
    Hath taught them scornful tricks, and such disdain,
    That they have murder'd this poor heart of mine;
    And these mine eyes, true leaders to their queen,
    But for thy piteous lips no more had seen.

    'Long may they kiss each other for this cure!
    O! never let their crimson liveries wear;
    And as they last, their verdure still endure,
    To drive infection from the dangerous year:
    That the star-gazers, having writ on death,
    May say, the plague is banish'd by thy breath.

    Pure lips, sweet seals in my soft lips imprinted,
    What bargains may I make, still to be sealing?
    To sell myself I can be well contented,
    So thou wilt buy and pay and use good dealing;
    Which purchase if thou make, for fear of slips
    Set thy seal-manual on my wax-red lips.

    '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?'

    Measure my strangeness with my unripe years:
    Before I know myself, seek not to know me;
    No fisher but the ungrown fry forbears:
    The mellow plum doth fall, the green sticks fast,
    Or being early pluck'd is sour to taste.

    'Look! the world's comforter, with weary gait
    His day's hot task hath ended in the west;
    The sheep are gone to fold, birds to their nest,
    And coal-black clouds that shadow heaven's light
    Do summon us to part, and bid good night.

    The honey fee of parting tender'd is:
    Her arms do lend his neck a sweet embrace;
    Incorporate then they seem, face grows to face.

