Venus and Adonis lines 127-570

359.

here's what's going down in V & A land:
Venus attempts to persuade Adonis to be with/kiss/love her. Adonis declines at various levels of annoyance. it cycles through that a couple times until Adonis (finally) attempts to get out of there. when he tries to leave on his horse, however, another (untamed) horse jumps out of the thicket. in this bizarre passage, the horses go through a little courtship ritual and then run off into the wild together. Venus goes over to him, continuing to beg for his love even though he continues to deny her. she cries and he denies her. she tells him to be like the horse and succumb to her love and he denies her.  finally, she faints. tricky girl. he kisses her to revive her and she loses her mind for loving it. he tells her he's too young to commit and if she will let him go, he will give her a goodnight kiss. he does, and they momentarily give way to lust. and that's where we leave off for the day.

the thing that strikes me most about this section is the whole thing with the horse. this bit goes on for ELEVEN stanzas. it's pretty hilarious that the horse love is the only requited love going on here. my question is, is Shakespeare including this to make some sort of point about love? like- this is what love should be like, even a horse can find love and Venus is pathetic, she's the god of love for cryin out loud. ??? OR is Shakespeare just using the story of the horse courtship so Venus can later bring up the horse thing to be like- hey Adonis, get it together, this is what love should be like. ??? what do you think?

this is my second Shakespeare and also the second main female character who loves a man unconditionally even though he treats her like poo. i get that it's the time period. i get it. i'm just sayin'. i know i will keep coming back to this. he has done nothing kind or welcoming in any way, and she continues to beg for his love. YEESH.

the language is lovely and surprisingly easy to follow. i actually think it's easier than the plays. i can't believe there are so many sex references! it's a wonder more teens don't read this stuff.  if they only knew...

interested to see how this thing wraps up!

"'i know not love,' quoth he, 'nor will i know it,
unless it be a boar, and then i chase it;
'tis much to borrow, and i will not owe 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."
       -Adonis, lines 409-414

for tomorrow: lines 571- the end!