The following version of the poem was used to create this study guide: Shakespeare, William. Venus and Adonis from The Folger Shakespeare. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine. Folger Shakespeare Library, October 22, 2021. https://shakespeare.folger.edu/downloads/pdf/venus-and-adonis_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the line number from which the quotation is taken.

Venus and Adonis was the first published work of the young William Shakespeare. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564 into a working-class family, Shakespeare married, had children, and then moved to London. After several years, he was rising to some prominence as an actor and playwright when the theaters were closed by an outbreak of plague. In the interim, he wrote his long narrative poems, including Venus and Adonis.

Venus and Adonis is considered a minor epic, which was a popular genre of poetry in the English Renaissance. This one is a retelling of a classical story, taken out of the extremely popular Roman book by Ovid, the Metamorphoses. It was originally published as a quarto – a small, standalone booklet – and likely from the version Shakespeare wrote himself (unlike many of his plays, which may have been taken from notes or actors' versions). It therefore provides useful insight into the work and thoughts of the young Shakespeare.

In the poem, Venus falls in love with Adonis, a young mortal man. However, Adonis is not interested in romance. After Adonis's horse rides off with another horse, Venus forces him to sit and listen to her speak about love. When Adonis rejects her, she faints, and he kisses her to bring her back to consciousness. She tells him that if he goes hunting tomorrow, he will be killed by a wild boar, but he does not listen to her. The next day, Venus finds Adonis dead after his hunt. She decrees that love is changed forever before fleeing earth altogether to mourn.