1996 or 1972 (see below)
Copyright by Bellerophon Books
Henry VIII and His Wives: Paper Dolls to Cut out and Color
Original price $4.95 cents, purchase price unknown
Worn paperback
B-
Although it says, "Copyright 1996 by Belleroophon Books," that copyright may actually apply to the Queen Elizabeth I Paper Dolls advertised in the front. And the title page says, in very small font, "Copyright 1972 by Bellerophon Books." So this probably should've gone in the 1970s. Oh well.
I like the paper dolls, some of the gowns in particular having lovely detail. Nothing has been cut or colored. It seems an odd book to get for a child, partly because of the historical bits scattered throughout, not to mention the (rather bad) poetry from the likes of Skelton and Henry himself.
As for the history, check out this from the Catherine Howard section: "...She became quite friendly with young men....She became quite friendly with her cousin, Thomas Culpepper....News of Catherine's adventures soon reached the king, who was unable, at first, to believe what he was told." These adventures being her "friendliness." Either a child old enough to play with paper dolls would be too ignorant of sex and/or history to understand, or she/he would scoff at the euphemisms.
Or how about this? "Henry VIII was crafty and brutal and an absolute ruler....He was a respected king, however, and even popular...." Still, I give them points for trying to explain a complex time and set of people to such an unlikely audience.
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Possession: A Romance
1990, 1991 Vintage International edition
A. S. Byatt
Possession: A Romance
Bought newish for $12.00
Worn paperback
B+
Like Fowle's The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), this contrasts moderns with Victorians, but the approach and results are different. Roland and Maud, two literary scholars, each devoted to a Victorian poet, in 1986 and '87 trace the connection-- intellectual and romantic-- between their poets, themselves connecting intellectually and then romantically. Although this is definitely a novel ("romance" in Hawthorne's sense), I'm using the "epistolary," "literary criticism," and "poetry" tags because Byatt creates not just poems but all sorts of texts (and subtexts) that are convincingly real. (As you know, I generally don't like poetry but I do like it when Christabel LaMotte writes like Emily Dickinson.) The book is a celebration of not just writing but reading, and reading into, which means it's often joyful but can get bogged down. At times, especially early on, I was tempted to give this an A-, but while it's an impressive and frequently fun book, it just doesn't quite make it to the top tier. (By now, I'm pretty much convinced I'll never give out an A, certainly no A+.)
For the most part, Byatt presents her Victorians just through their writing, although there are times when she shows them directly. However, she doesn't get as close as Fowle did. When we see characters riding the train, Byatt isn't curled up into a corner of the compartment, as he was. Like many of her characters, she's more aloof. The book is about both passion (possession in many senses, including spiritual) and its avoidance, and times when celibacy is the more "romantic" choice. (Even whether or not to read something is a very important choice, more important than sexual choices sometimes.) One reason I loathed the 2002 movie is that Roland, who appeals to Maud partly because he's not "forceful," was changed into a brash American. It's better to have an ice queen's melting be more paradoxical. Also, in the book it's much clearer why Maud seems like an ice queen, because we see the nature of her recent involvements with a man and a woman, both of whom overwhelmed her.
When I first read the book, the ending surprised me but it fit. I'm generally writing these reviews as if you don't mind spoilers, but I really do need to say don't read further if you haven't read the book but plan to.
SPOILERS AND SPECULATION....
LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash go away together for a week in Yorkshire, in early to mid-June 1859. As near as we can tell, it's the only time they have sex. (He's married, she has a live-in girlfriend.) Cleaning up after their first time (possibly her first time with a man), he finds blood on his thighs. He doesn't talk to her about it. Has he deflowered her? Does she have her period? Some other reason? We never find out.
She has a baby sometime between mid-April and early May. The baby, who's raised by LaMotte's sister, is named Maia, implying the later month. But wait a minute, even mid-April is at least ten months after she had sex with RHA. The big reveal at the end of the novel is that Maud is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of both poets. But is she? What if LaMotte had an affair with another man? (My money's on Crabb, the only other male friend she has.) It's like there's a whole other subtext to the book, one that Byatt isn't aware of, or sneakily pretends isn't there!
A. S. Byatt
Possession: A Romance
Bought newish for $12.00
Worn paperback
B+
Like Fowle's The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), this contrasts moderns with Victorians, but the approach and results are different. Roland and Maud, two literary scholars, each devoted to a Victorian poet, in 1986 and '87 trace the connection-- intellectual and romantic-- between their poets, themselves connecting intellectually and then romantically. Although this is definitely a novel ("romance" in Hawthorne's sense), I'm using the "epistolary," "literary criticism," and "poetry" tags because Byatt creates not just poems but all sorts of texts (and subtexts) that are convincingly real. (As you know, I generally don't like poetry but I do like it when Christabel LaMotte writes like Emily Dickinson.) The book is a celebration of not just writing but reading, and reading into, which means it's often joyful but can get bogged down. At times, especially early on, I was tempted to give this an A-, but while it's an impressive and frequently fun book, it just doesn't quite make it to the top tier. (By now, I'm pretty much convinced I'll never give out an A, certainly no A+.)
For the most part, Byatt presents her Victorians just through their writing, although there are times when she shows them directly. However, she doesn't get as close as Fowle did. When we see characters riding the train, Byatt isn't curled up into a corner of the compartment, as he was. Like many of her characters, she's more aloof. The book is about both passion (possession in many senses, including spiritual) and its avoidance, and times when celibacy is the more "romantic" choice. (Even whether or not to read something is a very important choice, more important than sexual choices sometimes.) One reason I loathed the 2002 movie is that Roland, who appeals to Maud partly because he's not "forceful," was changed into a brash American. It's better to have an ice queen's melting be more paradoxical. Also, in the book it's much clearer why Maud seems like an ice queen, because we see the nature of her recent involvements with a man and a woman, both of whom overwhelmed her.
When I first read the book, the ending surprised me but it fit. I'm generally writing these reviews as if you don't mind spoilers, but I really do need to say don't read further if you haven't read the book but plan to.
SPOILERS AND SPECULATION....
LaMotte and Randolph Henry Ash go away together for a week in Yorkshire, in early to mid-June 1859. As near as we can tell, it's the only time they have sex. (He's married, she has a live-in girlfriend.) Cleaning up after their first time (possibly her first time with a man), he finds blood on his thighs. He doesn't talk to her about it. Has he deflowered her? Does she have her period? Some other reason? We never find out.
She has a baby sometime between mid-April and early May. The baby, who's raised by LaMotte's sister, is named Maia, implying the later month. But wait a minute, even mid-April is at least ten months after she had sex with RHA. The big reveal at the end of the novel is that Maud is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of both poets. But is she? What if LaMotte had an affair with another man? (My money's on Crabb, the only other male friend she has.) It's like there's a whole other subtext to the book, one that Byatt isn't aware of, or sneakily pretends isn't there!
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Now, Where Were We?
1989, undated possibly first paperback edition, from Villard Books
Roy Blount, Jr.
Now, Where Were We?: Getting Back to Basic Truths That We Have Lost Sight of Through No Fault of My Own
Original price $4.95, purchase price $3.95
Worn paperback
C+
This is another slip in quality for Blount, though it still has its moments, mostly in the last 70 pages. (Yes, right around the time he starts making fun of Reagan.) One oddity to this copy is that pages 115 to 146 are missing, and are replaced by duplicates of pages 147 to 178. So one minute he's talking about power-walking and the next he's talking about cola.
I did like seeing his take on health spas, compared to Jessica Mitford's a decade or two earlier. (The pieces are from '78 onwards.) The cover illustration riffs off of a piece imagining himself at the Constitutional Convention, which has a great last line. His next book, the novel First Hubby, will offer a very different look at politics, which I'll discuss in 1990....
Roy Blount, Jr.
Now, Where Were We?: Getting Back to Basic Truths That We Have Lost Sight of Through No Fault of My Own
Original price $4.95, purchase price $3.95
Worn paperback
C+
This is another slip in quality for Blount, though it still has its moments, mostly in the last 70 pages. (Yes, right around the time he starts making fun of Reagan.) One oddity to this copy is that pages 115 to 146 are missing, and are replaced by duplicates of pages 147 to 178. So one minute he's talking about power-walking and the next he's talking about cola.
I did like seeing his take on health spas, compared to Jessica Mitford's a decade or two earlier. (The pieces are from '78 onwards.) The cover illustration riffs off of a piece imagining himself at the Constitutional Convention, which has a great last line. His next book, the novel First Hubby, will offer a very different look at politics, which I'll discuss in 1990....
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind
1985, 1986 Penguin edition
Roy Blount, Jr.
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind
Original price $6.95, purchase price $4.95
Worn paperback
B-
The title feels apt for a not bad but definitely weaker follow-up to Fell Soup. There just aren't as many laugh-out-loud spots, although I did chortle rudely at a few of the swipes against Reagan. The copyright page this time goes back to 1977, but it's mostly an '80s book. I found the first section, "Talking Wrenches," to be the best, but his rambling style does wear thin after awhile, especially when I don't care about some of what he's rambling about. (The sports writing is duller, although I was mildly interested in his take on whether Carl Lewis is gay.) It seems like there's less poetry, and what there is less memorable.
But his piece on Erma Bombeck reminded me of why I once loved Erma, and why I'm not so crazy about her now. The Bill Murray profile also captures a lot of Murray's appeal, and flaws. And for that matter, he's good on Mark Twain, bringing the perspective of a Northern-dwelling Southerner. Blount is a good observer, most of the time.
Roy Blount, Jr.
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind
Original price $6.95, purchase price $4.95
Worn paperback
B-
The title feels apt for a not bad but definitely weaker follow-up to Fell Soup. There just aren't as many laugh-out-loud spots, although I did chortle rudely at a few of the swipes against Reagan. The copyright page this time goes back to 1977, but it's mostly an '80s book. I found the first section, "Talking Wrenches," to be the best, but his rambling style does wear thin after awhile, especially when I don't care about some of what he's rambling about. (The sports writing is duller, although I was mildly interested in his take on whether Carl Lewis is gay.) It seems like there's less poetry, and what there is less memorable.
But his piece on Erma Bombeck reminded me of why I once loved Erma, and why I'm not so crazy about her now. The Bill Murray profile also captures a lot of Murray's appeal, and flaws. And for that matter, he's good on Mark Twain, bringing the perspective of a Northern-dwelling Southerner. Blount is a good observer, most of the time.
Friday, December 28, 2012
One Fell Soup
1982, 1984 Penguin edition
Roy Blount, Jr.
One Fell Soup, or, I'm Just a Bug on the Windshield of Life
Original price $5.95, purchase price $2.50
Worn paperback
B
I can't remember if I first encountered Blount as a writer, likely of this eye-catchingly titled collection, or as a "news" correspondent on Comedy Central. (Or it could've been his introduction to one of my Nancy collections, more on that later.) Both his spoken and his written voice are unique, both goofy and wry. In the introduction here, one of the funniest I've read, he tries to explain what this book is a collection of. With copyright dates going back to 1967, there's poetry and sports writing and "spoofery" and various unclassifiable things that he sees as "juice-swapping" like Huck Finn's food in a barrel. I've tried to select enough tags to cover the bases.
It's hard to pick out a favorite. Usually, there's at least one line in everything, even the sports articles, that catches my fancy, makes me chuckle. His poetry is a bit Ogden-Nash-like, and even when a poem is called a song, it looks impossible to sing, which is OK, because he claims to be singing-impaired. I'm finding it hard not to slip into a Blountesque style, so I'll just conclude with this here quote:
"I once heard Blaze Starr ask an audience whether they would like her to uncover her (larger than life) breasts. When the audience cried out yes, yes, ma'am, they certainly would, she froze; rolled her eyes; replied, with great, pungent reserve, 'I reckon you would like some friiiied chicken."
Roy Blount, Jr.
One Fell Soup, or, I'm Just a Bug on the Windshield of Life
Original price $5.95, purchase price $2.50
Worn paperback
B
I can't remember if I first encountered Blount as a writer, likely of this eye-catchingly titled collection, or as a "news" correspondent on Comedy Central. (Or it could've been his introduction to one of my Nancy collections, more on that later.) Both his spoken and his written voice are unique, both goofy and wry. In the introduction here, one of the funniest I've read, he tries to explain what this book is a collection of. With copyright dates going back to 1967, there's poetry and sports writing and "spoofery" and various unclassifiable things that he sees as "juice-swapping" like Huck Finn's food in a barrel. I've tried to select enough tags to cover the bases.
It's hard to pick out a favorite. Usually, there's at least one line in everything, even the sports articles, that catches my fancy, makes me chuckle. His poetry is a bit Ogden-Nash-like, and even when a poem is called a song, it looks impossible to sing, which is OK, because he claims to be singing-impaired. I'm finding it hard not to slip into a Blountesque style, so I'll just conclude with this here quote:
"I once heard Blaze Starr ask an audience whether they would like her to uncover her (larger than life) breasts. When the audience cried out yes, yes, ma'am, they certainly would, she froze; rolled her eyes; replied, with great, pungent reserve, 'I reckon you would like some friiiied chicken."
Saturday, September 1, 2012
By a Woman Writt
1973, 1974 Penguin edition
edited by Joan Goulianos
By a Woman Writt [sic]: Literature from Six Centuries by and about Women
Original price unknown, bought used for $4.25
Worn paperback
C+
Goulianos selects women's writings in English from 14th-century Margery Kempe to modern poet Muriel Rukeyser, so this collection is understandably uneven. I most enjoyed Aphra Behn, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, and Sylvia Ashton-Warner. In the introduction, Goulianos suggests some themes, like fear and motherhood, but I don't feel like there's enough commentary or organization here. Also, she doesn't give dates to all the pieces, and sometimes not even birth or death dates for the authors, so my labels are limited to the wider eras and I can't include the 20th-centuries decades, other than the 1970s of course. (Not that there aren't a lot of labels on the post anyway.) This is a serviceable introduction to women's literature, deliberately omitting some of the better known writers (although Wollstonecraft and daughter Mary are here), without going overly obscure.
edited by Joan Goulianos
By a Woman Writt [sic]: Literature from Six Centuries by and about Women
Original price unknown, bought used for $4.25
Worn paperback
C+
Goulianos selects women's writings in English from 14th-century Margery Kempe to modern poet Muriel Rukeyser, so this collection is understandably uneven. I most enjoyed Aphra Behn, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, and Sylvia Ashton-Warner. In the introduction, Goulianos suggests some themes, like fear and motherhood, but I don't feel like there's enough commentary or organization here. Also, she doesn't give dates to all the pieces, and sometimes not even birth or death dates for the authors, so my labels are limited to the wider eras and I can't include the 20th-centuries decades, other than the 1970s of course. (Not that there aren't a lot of labels on the post anyway.) This is a serviceable introduction to women's literature, deliberately omitting some of the better known writers (although Wollstonecraft and daughter Mary are here), without going overly obscure.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
There's Always Another Windmill
1968, possibly first edition, from Little, Brown and Company
Ogden Nash
"With decorations by John Alcorn"
There's Always Another Windmill
Original and purchase price unknown
Worn hardcover with scribbles
C+
While many of Nash's rhymes are clever-- the first poem alone contains "launderer" & "maunderer," "tom" & "aplomb," and "suspender" & "gender"-- it often feels like Nash is reaching, making the rhymes more important than the meaning. I most like the middle section, "How Pleasant to Ape Mr. Lear," which has not only limericks but a rebuttal from "The Indignant Owl," who denies wooing the Pussycat. The Peter-Maxy illustrations by Alcorn seem like they're supposed to give a contemporary, groovy feel to Nash's very middle-aged or even elderly viewpoint (Nash was then 66), but they don't suit poems about golf, buffets, and stamp-collecting. The oddest is the bird with hot-pants and perky breasts, to illustrate the poem about the redundant Latin that ornithologists use, as in "Puffinus puffinus puffinus."
Ogden Nash
"With decorations by John Alcorn"
There's Always Another Windmill
Original and purchase price unknown
Worn hardcover with scribbles
C+
While many of Nash's rhymes are clever-- the first poem alone contains "launderer" & "maunderer," "tom" & "aplomb," and "suspender" & "gender"-- it often feels like Nash is reaching, making the rhymes more important than the meaning. I most like the middle section, "How Pleasant to Ape Mr. Lear," which has not only limericks but a rebuttal from "The Indignant Owl," who denies wooing the Pussycat. The Peter-Maxy illustrations by Alcorn seem like they're supposed to give a contemporary, groovy feel to Nash's very middle-aged or even elderly viewpoint (Nash was then 66), but they don't suit poems about golf, buffets, and stamp-collecting. The oddest is the bird with hot-pants and perky breasts, to illustrate the poem about the redundant Latin that ornithologists use, as in "Puffinus puffinus puffinus."
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Mad Gardener's Song
1889
Lewis Carroll
The Mad Gardener's Song
B-
Nifty little poem from Sylvie and Bruno. The gardener keeps hallucinating, till he realises that a bar of mottled soap isn't an argument that proves he's the Pope. Favorite rhyme: chimney-piece/Sister's Husband's niece/Police.
Overall, I'd say this Carroll collection averages out to a B.
Lewis Carroll
The Mad Gardener's Song
B-
Nifty little poem from Sylvie and Bruno. The gardener keeps hallucinating, till he realises that a bar of mottled soap isn't an argument that proves he's the Pope. Favorite rhyme: chimney-piece/Sister's Husband's niece/Police.
Overall, I'd say this Carroll collection averages out to a B.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
The Hunting of the Snark
1876
Lewis Carroll
The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits
B+
Although this contains some of the vocabulary of "Jabberwocky," I wouldn't call it a children's poem. Take this recurring stanza:
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care
They pursued it with forks and hope
They threatened its life with a railway-share
They charmed it with smiles and soap.
It's much funnier to me at 43 than it would've been 35 years ago. The absurdism of the poem, including that several professions are on board the ship and then there's a beaver who knits, feels different than the absurdism of the "Alice" stories. And of course the modern use of "snark," which urbandictionary.com says is a combination of "snide" and "remark" (making it a Carrollian portmanteau), seems more adult or at least adolescent than childish. The Snark here is a mythical beast who's pursued in Moby Dick fashion but, alas, turns out to be the dreaded Boojum. As in Wonderland, there's a ridiculous trial, in this case of a pig who turns out to be dead.
The rhymes are delightful, my favorites being in this stanza:
"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply,
"They are merely conventional signs!"
The poem seems to be begging to be read aloud, and I'd love to hear recommendations of good readings on Youtube and elsewhere.
Lewis Carroll
The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits
B+
Although this contains some of the vocabulary of "Jabberwocky," I wouldn't call it a children's poem. Take this recurring stanza:
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care
They pursued it with forks and hope
They threatened its life with a railway-share
They charmed it with smiles and soap.
It's much funnier to me at 43 than it would've been 35 years ago. The absurdism of the poem, including that several professions are on board the ship and then there's a beaver who knits, feels different than the absurdism of the "Alice" stories. And of course the modern use of "snark," which urbandictionary.com says is a combination of "snide" and "remark" (making it a Carrollian portmanteau), seems more adult or at least adolescent than childish. The Snark here is a mythical beast who's pursued in Moby Dick fashion but, alas, turns out to be the dreaded Boojum. As in Wonderland, there's a ridiculous trial, in this case of a pig who turns out to be dead.
The rhymes are delightful, my favorites being in this stanza:
"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply,
"They are merely conventional signs!"
The poem seems to be begging to be read aloud, and I'd love to hear recommendations of good readings on Youtube and elsewhere.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Hiawatha's Photographing
1857, from the Jupiter Books edition of The Illustrated Lewis Carroll 1978
Lewis Carroll
Original and purchase price unknown
Hardcover in good shape except for missing jacket and a few food stains
This poem a B-
While definitely one of Carroll's minor works, in both length and quality, I like it for two of the same reasons I like Humphry Clinker. It shows how family members can react to the same situation in very different ways, and it captures a particular moment in social history. Portrait photography was very new in the late 1850s, yet Hiawatha's subjects have each worked out a particular pose and style. As you can guess from the title, this poem follows the meter of "The Song of Hiawatha."
Lewis Carroll
Original and purchase price unknown
Hardcover in good shape except for missing jacket and a few food stains
This poem a B-
While definitely one of Carroll's minor works, in both length and quality, I like it for two of the same reasons I like Humphry Clinker. It shows how family members can react to the same situation in very different ways, and it captures a particular moment in social history. Portrait photography was very new in the late 1850s, yet Hiawatha's subjects have each worked out a particular pose and style. As you can guess from the title, this poem follows the meter of "The Song of Hiawatha."
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Ode to Pity
1793 Jane Austen
Ode to Pity
C+
Two-stanza poem probably meant as a parody, since it includes a "heap"/"peep" rhyme, as well as the phrase "gently brawling."
Ode to Pity
C+
Two-stanza poem probably meant as a parody, since it includes a "heap"/"peep" rhyme, as well as the phrase "gently brawling."
Friday, November 25, 2011
Sonnets
1609
Shakespeare
The Sonnets
C-
Mostly over-rated and over-quoted, although I'm sort of fond of cynical Sonnet 138 (the one with all the puns on "lie").
If I count these as a group, and weight the two longer poems (Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece) about equally, WS's poetry averages out to a low D, the three shorter poems (which average out to a C) pushing to a definite D. But then I'm generally not a poetry fan, as my book collection reveals.
Shakespeare
The Sonnets
C-
Mostly over-rated and over-quoted, although I'm sort of fond of cynical Sonnet 138 (the one with all the puns on "lie").
If I count these as a group, and weight the two longer poems (Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece) about equally, WS's poetry averages out to a low D, the three shorter poems (which average out to a C) pushing to a definite D. But then I'm generally not a poetry fan, as my book collection reveals.
A Lover's Complaint
1609
Shakespeare
A Lover's Complaint
C
OK short poem on the usual topic of frustrated romance.
Shakespeare
A Lover's Complaint
C
OK short poem on the usual topic of frustrated romance.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Phoenix and the Turtle
1601
Shakespeare
The Phoenix and the Turtle
D+
Short but forgettable poem on the romance between two birds. (Turtle as in turtledove.)
Shakespeare
The Phoenix and the Turtle
D+
Short but forgettable poem on the romance between two birds. (Turtle as in turtledove.)
The Passionate Pilgrim
1599
Shakespeare
The Passionate Pilgrim
B-
The "Venus & Adonis" stuff is handled better here than in the longer version, and there are some nice insights into relationships. The most "human" poem so far.
Shakespeare
The Passionate Pilgrim
B-
The "Venus & Adonis" stuff is handled better here than in the longer version, and there are some nice insights into relationships. The most "human" poem so far.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Rape of Lucrece
1594
Shakespeare
The Rape of Lucrece
F
While I suppose parts of this are well written, this poem is alternately creepy and boring. I really don't want to read about how gorgeous a rape victim's hair is, nor do I want to hear that she has to kill herself because she's no longer "pure" for her husband. Yes, it's a product of its time, but I'm not of that time and couldn't wait for this poem to be over.
Shakespeare
The Rape of Lucrece
F
While I suppose parts of this are well written, this poem is alternately creepy and boring. I really don't want to read about how gorgeous a rape victim's hair is, nor do I want to hear that she has to kill herself because she's no longer "pure" for her husband. Yes, it's a product of its time, but I'm not of that time and couldn't wait for this poem to be over.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Venus and Adonis
1593
Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis
D
Early poem by WS, with a classical setting. And I just don't care. Adonis is some prude who'd rather go hunting than shag a goddess, and then I'm supposed to feel bad for overly aggressive Venus when Adonis dies. That said, some of the adjectives are nice.
Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis
D
Early poem by WS, with a classical setting. And I just don't care. Adonis is some prude who'd rather go hunting than shag a goddess, and then I'm supposed to feel bad for overly aggressive Venus when Adonis dies. That said, some of the adjectives are nice.
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