e stallion. Venus takes, over one arm the lusty coursers rein, Under the other her tender boy (31-32). Venus is attempting to use strength to get her love, the way the stallion used his strength. Shakespeare is making a reference to how Venus is taking what is customarily the male role. The actions of the jennet in the digression can be compared to the actions of Adonis in the poem. The jennet, when approached by the stallion, puts on outward strangeness, seems unkind: spurns his love, and scorns the heat he feels (310-311). Shakespeare uses similar terms to describe Adonis feelings towards Venus. His feelings are described in the first four lines of the play, Hunting he lovd, but love he laughd to scorn (4). These two lines indicate the direct connection between the stallion and Adonis in the poem. There are several themes in the digression that parallels the poem as a whole. Adonis resistance to Venus is increasing her passion just as the jennet resisting the stallion increases his passion. The stallion after being rejected by the jennet he stamps and bites the poor flies in his fume/he was enragd (316-317). After Venus embraces Adonis, his anger increases his beauty. Pure shame and awd resistance made him fret, which bred more beauty in his angry eyes (69-70). Shakespeare implies to the reader, through the parallelism in the digression, that Adonis will eventually relent to Venus as the jennet relents to the stallion.The digression in the poem Hero & Leander also parallels poem as a whole. The actions of Neptune in the digression can be equated to the actions of Leader, outside of the digression. Throughout the poem, Leander is entreating Hero to come to his bed. She continually resists his advances stating that she has vowed her chastity to Venus. He proceeds to flatter, entreat, promise, protest, and swear (Marlowe 268) in order to win her love. Similarly during the digression, Neptune fights to win the love of Leander. He follo...
