This is a beautiful and strange poem about a loved girl who seems to come from an outer world, maybe from dreams, or from a star, a spiritual bride descending on the bed of the desiring poet, and their mystical union mixes extasy with agony. Both erotic and esoteric, full of hidden meanings, these verses are difficult to interpret. The 1905 edition of the poem states that the title means: ‘One of the “Intelligences” of the Planet Venus.’ CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Marjory Fleming was a Scottish child of the early 19th century, who died of meningitis one month before her ninth birthday and got posthumous fame from her writings: three journals, several poems and letters. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The song “Little Girls” is the opening track of Only a Lad, the full-length debut album by the band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981. Written by Danny Elfman, their lead singer and songwriter, it ironically evokes the attraction of an adult man for little girls, indeed “I’m in trouble … the little girl was just too little.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Myrtle, Rue and Cypress (subtitled A Book of Poems, Songs, and Sonnets), Stenbock’s second collection of verses, was published by Hatchards (Picadilly, London) in 1883, and reprinted by Hermitage Books in 1992. This latter edition was digitised for Internet Archive. In 2018, S N Books World (Delhi, India) reprinted it. As with other cheap Indian reprints, the page layout is faulty, with odd-numbered pages on the left and even-numbered pages on the right. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Latin Poet Martial (b. 38–41 AD, d. 102–104 AD), known for his ferocious satires in his Epigrams, also showed often in his writing a humane and compassionate personality, in particular towards the most powerless people: children and slaves. In particular Epigram 11.91 mourns a 7-year-old girl who died after having been disfigured by a horrible disease. The saddest thing is not death, but how it came. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Crowley’s The Sword of Song (1904) consists mainly of two long poems, ‘Ascension Day’ and ‘Pentecost,’ both critical of Christianity; they are preceded by an Introduction and followed by lengthy notes. The title, with its subtitle and long dedication, is itself rather ironic: CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
The Latin Poet Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial), born between 38 and 41 AD and who died between 102 and 104 AD, is known for his Epigrams, a collection of short poems grouped into 12 “Books”. The original poems in Latin can be found in The Latin Library, Bibliotheca Augustana and Wikisource. Here I will use the English translation given by The Tertullian Project. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
In Crowley’s collection Oracles, the poem “Ode to Sappho” is immediately followed by its companion “In a lesbian meadow,” on the same topic of love between girls. Through these beautiful verses shines a soft eroticism, mixing tender kisses with the beauties of nature—indeed, arising from true love. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Crowley’s 1905 collection Oracles, subtitled The Biography of an Art, consists of unpublished poems written between 1886 and 1903. According to The 100th Monkey Press, Crowley had planned to publish a special limited edition, printed in one hundred copies only, and containing additional matter; however it never materialized. Moreover, ten poems in it were originally meant to appear in a separate collection titled Green Alps, which was never published, as a fire at the publisher destroyed it. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) was an Anglican priest, a university professor, social reformer, historian and novelist. I have chosen the following short poem from his collection Songs, Ballads, etc. published in Volume 1 of The works of Charles Kingsley. A longer version, titled “A Farewell: To C.E.G” and with 3 stanzas, has been given in Poets’ Corner. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
