e.e. cummings (1894-1962)
she being Brand
-new; and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and (having
thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.
K.) i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her
up, slipped the clutch (and then somehow got into reverse
she kicked what
the hell) next
minute i was back in neutral tried and
again slo-wly; bare,ly nudg. ing (my
lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning) just as we turned the corner of Divinity
avenue i touched the accelerator and give
her the juice, good
(it
was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on
the internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and
brought allof her tremB
-ling
to a:dead.
stand-
;Still)
Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891)
"Obscur et fronce"
Dark, wrinkled as a purple pink,
It breathes, it nestles in that bed of moss,
Still damp from love, which hugs the slope,
The white thighs' slope, to crater's heart.
Threads, gossamer, milky tears
Wept, wept, in scouring wind
That drove them on clots of scarlet scree
Till they tumbled on the edge, were gone.
My dreams touch kisses, kisses to the gate.
Soul envies couplings of the flesh,
Its tear-bottle this, its nest of sobs.
Ecstatic olive! Seductive flute!
Throat sucking almond-sweet sublime!
Moss-circled, female, promised land!
Anon. (English)
"Nine Times a Night"
A buxom young fellow from London came down
To set up his trade in Ramsbottom town;
They asked who he was and he answered them right,
"I belong to a family called 'Nine times a night'."
A buxom young widow who still wore her weeds,
Whose husband had left her her riches and deeds,
Resolved she was by her conjugal right,
To fill up her chisum with nine times a night.
Fortune favoured the joke on the very next day,
Those giggling girls saw him coming that way.
Then upstairs they ran with amorous delight,
"Upon my word, madam, here's nine times a night."
From a chair she arose (what I say is true),
And down to the hall door like lightning they flew,
She viewed him all over and gave him a smack,
The bargain was struck and done in a crack.
The marriage being over, the bride tolled the bell,
He did her six times and pleased her so well,
She vowed from her heart she was satisfied quite,
Still she gave him a hint of nine times a night.
He said, "My dear bride, you mistook the wrong thing,
I said to that family I did belong.
Nine times a night is too much for a man,
I can't do it myself, but my sister, she can."
Anon. (Egypt)
From an Ancient Egyptian love lyric (c. 570 - c. 1085bc).
I.
Is there anything sweeter than this hour?
for I am with you, and you lift up my heart --
for is there not embracing and fondling when you visit me
and we give ourselves up to delights?
If you wish to caress my thigh,
then I will offer you my breast also -- it won't thrust you away!
Would you leave because you are hungry?
- are you such a man of your belly?
Would you leave because you need something to wear?
- I have a chestful of fine linen!
Would you leave because you wish something to drink?
Here, take my breasts! They are full to overflowing, and all for you!
Glorious is the day of our embracings;
I treasure it a hundred thousand millions!
II.
Your love has gone all through my body
like honey in water,
as a drug is mixed into spices,
as water is mingled with wine.
Oh that you would speed to see your sister
like a charger on the battlefield, like a bull to his pasture!
For the heavens are sending us love like a flame spreading through straw
and desire like the swoop of the falcon!
Automedon (Greece)
c. 90-50 b.c.
Turkish. Belly-dancer. Sexy tricks.
(That quivering! Those fingernails!)
What do I like best? Hands here, here,
Soft, soft, stroking - or better,
Piping that little old man of mine,
Fondling each foldlet, tonguing,
Tickling, easing, teasing,
Then slipping on top, and ...
I tell you, she could raise the dead.
Meleager (Greece)
fl. 80 b.c.
Hot day. Dying of thirst. Slake myself
Kissing Antiochos. White ... white ... soft...
Thirst gone. "Great Zeus above,
Does it work for you too, kissing Ganymede,
Sipping his nectar, draining his droplets?
I know what you mean. Antiochos!
I've just sipped Antiochos, honey of the soul."
Kate Chopin (1851-1904)
from The Awakening (1899)
She leaned over and kissed him - a soft, cool, delicate kiss,
whose voluptuous sting penetrated his whole being - then she moved
away from him. He followed, and took her in his arms, just holding
her close to him. She put her hand up to his face and pressed
his cheek against her own. The action was full of love and tenderness.
He sought her lips again. Then he drew her down upon the sofa
beside him and held her hand in both of his.
"Now you know," he said, "now you know what I have
been fighting against since last summer at Grand Isle, what drove
me away and drove me back again."
"Why have you been fighting against it?" she asked.
Her face glowed with soft lights.
"Why? Because you were not free; you were Lonce Pontellier's
wife. I couldn't help loving you if you were ten times his wife,
but so long as I went away from you and kept away I could help
telling you so." She put her free hand up to his shoulder,
and then against his cheek, rubbing it softly. He kissed her
again. His face was warm and flushed.
"There in Mexico I was thinking of you all the time, and
longing for you."
"But not writing to me," she interrupted.
"Something put into my head that you cared for me, and I
lost my senses. I forgot everything but a wild dream of your
some way becoming my wife."
"Your wife!"
"Religion, loyalty, everything would give way if only you
cared."
"Then you must have forgotten that I was Lonce Pontellier's
wife."
"Oh! I was demented, dreaming of wild, impossible things,
recalling men who had set their wives free, we have heard of such
things."
"Yes, we have heard of such things."
"I came back full of vague, mad intentions. And when I got
here --"
"When you got here you never came near me!" She was
still caressing his cheek.
"I realized what a cur I was to dream of such a thing, even
if you had been willing."
She took his face between her hands and looked into it as if she
would never withdraw her eyes more. She kissed him on the forehead,
the eyes, the cheeks, and the lips.
"You have been a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time
dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier's
setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontellier's possessions
to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were
to say, "Here, Robert, take her and be happy, she is yours,"
I should laugh at you both."
His face grew a little white. "What do you mean?" he
asked.
There was a knock at the door. Old Celestine came in to say that
Madame Ratignolle's servant had come around the back way with
a message that Madame had been taken sick and begged Mrs. Pontellier
to go to her immediately.
"Yes, yes," said Edna, rising; "I promised. Tell
her yes - to wait for me. I'll go back with her."
"Let me walk over with you," offered Robert.
"No," she said; "I will go with the servant."
She went into her room to put on her hat, and when she came in
again she sat once more upon the sofa beside him. He had not
stirred. She put her arms around his neck.
"Good-bye, my sweet Robert. Tell me good-bye." He kissed
her with a degree of passion which had not before entered into
his caress, and strained her to him.
"I love you," she whispered, "only you, no one
but you. It was you who awoke me last summer out of a life-long,
stupid dream. Oh! you have made me so unhappy with your indifference.
Oh! I have suffered, suffered! Now you are here we shall love
each other, my Robert. We shall love each other, my Robert.
We shall be everything to each other. Nothing else in the world
is of any consequence. I must go to my friend; but you will wait
for me? No matter how late; you will wait for me, Robert?"
"Don't go, don't go! Oh! Edna, stay with me," he pleaded.
"Why should you go? Stay with me, stay with me."
"I shall come back as soon as I can; I shall find you here."
She buried her face in his neck, and said good-bye again. Her
seductive voice, together with his great love for her, had enthralled
his senses, had deprived him of every impulse but the longing
to hold her and keep her.
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