Poems about sexuality offer a diverse and inclusive portrayal of human desire and love. They break free from societal taboos and heteronormative constructs, embracing the rich tapestry of sexual orientations and gender identities.
These verses might celebrate love and intimacy between individuals of the same or different genders, challenging prejudice and discrimination. They can delve into the complexity of human connections, exploring themes of self-discovery, acceptance, and the pursuit of authentic identities.
Poems about sexuality encourage readers to embrace their true selves, foster understanding and acceptance, and promote a more inclusive and compassionate society.
In ‘Sonnet 129,’ William Shakespeare describes the nature of lust and its effect on an individual’s mind and spirit.
‘Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame’ by William Shakespeare describes and delves deeper into the nature of sexuality. The speaker of this sonnet explores how treacherous sexual feelings are.
‘Wild nights – Wild nights!’ by Emily Dickinson is a multi-faceted poem. It explores an ambiguous relationship that could be religious or sexual.
The poem portrays a burning sexual desire that provides pleasure, satisfaction, and solace once fulfilled. It is replete with sexual innuendos expressing the speaker's strong passion for her beloved. The 'Wild Nights' denoting stormy weather symbolizes the speaker's luxurious wild nights spent with her beloved and his passionate love. The last lines - 'Rowing in Eden -/ Ah - the Sea!/ Might I but moor - tonight -/ In thee!' are packed with sexual innuendos as the speaker mimics the exclamation of sexual pleasure juxtaposed with the erotic imagery of 'rowing' and 'mooring' literally 'into' the beloved.
Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin Market,’ narrates the fantastical tale of Laura and Lizzie, delving into sin, redemption, and sisterhood.
The temptation towards the Goblins' fruits symbolizes the forbidden sexual desires and suppressed female sexuality of Victorian times, as their calls were heard only by young maidens. The fruits described as 'Bloom-down-cheeked peaches,' 'grapes are so luscious,' 'Plums on their twigs; / Pluck them and suck them,' etc., seem seductive and sexually lucrative, appealing to the underlying and forbidden sexuality of the young maidens, as, seeing the goblins, Lizzie even 'veiled her blushes' and had 'tingling cheeks and finger tips.' By redeeming Laura through a rather sensual union between the sisters, the poem creates a safe space for female sexuality while reversing the Victorian punishment for 'fallen women' who were exploited.
Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’ narrates the tale of the cursed Lady entrapped in a tower on the island of Shalott, who meets a tragic end.
Within strict Victorian morality, women's sexuality was unrecognized, with virgin women idealized. The Lady's virginity is preserved by death after she transgresses her tower in a moment of burning passion. Her sexual awakening, ignited by the sight of the dreamy Lancelot, compels her to leave her loom. Lancelot's burning and fiery description reflects the Lady's passion and sexual awakening. He embodies romantic chivalry and idealized, almost eroticized masculinity, compelling her to act impulsively, driven by desire rather than reason.
‘Sweeney Among the Nightingales’ reflects the modern world’s degraded state through its layered allusions, symbolism, and imagery.
The poem contains sexual innuendos in almost every line; even Nightingale is a slang term for prostitute. With Sweeney's sexual relationship with prostitutes at its center, the poem reflects infertile and unloving sexual relationships of the modern world as alienated and fragmented individuals cannot connect and make loving relationships. Dealing with the devastation and psychological damage of World War 1, the people lived infertile and alienated lives in urban societies lacking genuine human relationships and connections.
‘Remembrance’ by Maya Angelou explores themes of intimacy, love, and longing. It’s a beautiful poem that, briefly but memorably, describes a sexual interaction between lovers.
This poem is overflowing with an undeniable sense of sexuality, as the speaker lusts for their partner. Angelou shows this, beginning with gentle, unassuming touches as the lover touches the speaker's hair, and progressing into more explicit depictions of sexuality. This poem is particularly notable, as it provides a unique perspective on sexuality in poetry. This is due to the revolutions of modern poetry, which allows females to discuss and embrace sexuality in a manner which was taboo before.
‘The Willing Mistress’ by Aphra Behn is an erotic poem wherein the speaker recounts her intimate moments with her lover in a grove.
This poem affirms female sexuality by portraying the speaker as actively willing in a sexual encounter. In Behn's time, female sexuality was suppressed; the courtly love poetry, usually written by men, shows either the man seducing the chaste mistress who denies sexual union. However, this poem, mimicking the same tradition, paints a scene of mutual, tender intimacy and depicts the speaker participating in lovemaking as she reciprocates the kisses, admits she's 'fired,' i.e., intensified passion, and shows willingness in sexual union, thus undoing the patriarchal construction of women as asexual beings who don't feel carnal passion and pleasure.
Duffy’s ‘Warming Her Pearls’ explores the restrained lesbian desire of a maid for her mistress through the pearls of the mistress’s necklace.
This poem presents a stifled and restrained homosexuality in the Victorian era when same-sex relationships were taboo and could have legal repercussions. The speaker satisfies her desires for her mistress by daydreaming about her beauty, feeling voyeuristic pleasure by imagining what she cannot see or do in reality, and making the pearls, i.e., the only way of physical exchange between them, an object of fetish. Her restricted and unexpressed sexuality is evident when she sensually observes a soft blush seeping through her mistress's skin, and her 'lips part as though' she wants 'to speak,' yet she doesn't and continues to 'burn.'
Next to my own skin, her pearls. My mistress
bids me wear them, warm them, until evening
when I'll brush her hair. At six, I place them
round her cool, white throat. All day I think of her,
In Olga Broumas’s ‘Calypso,’ the speaker conjures up a dreamy world, imagining sensual women to fulfill her sexual desires.
Sexuality in this poem is explored through the lens of human experience and expression. The poet asserts her sexuality by embracing and celebrating her desires unapologetically within the sensual rhythms of the poem. The speaker's intimate interactions with female companions, coupled with the evocative depiction of sexual pleasure and fulfillment, serve as a powerful assertion of her identity and autonomy. The poem celebrates and presents an authentic portrayal of lesbian sexuality.
Belle, as Mrs Beast, corrects the narrative of her story as well as other women’s stories in this masterful poem by Carol Ann Duffy.
Carol Ann Duffy rejects the idea that women cannot express their sexuality and sexual appetite as her speaker revels in her lust. Unlike the stories Duffy references within the poem, her work refuses to characterize female sexuality as a sin. The speaker embraces her lust and openly discusses it with the reader. In addition to this, the speaker is characterized as the dominant force in sex, commanding her husband to do what she wants on her schedule. This poem sees the reversal of traditional gender norms as the speaker's husband is portrayed as submissive.
These myths going round, these legends, fairytales,
This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer establishes January’s impossible expectations of a wife and his own shortcomings.
Throughout the course of this poem, January conflates sex and marriage, viewing women as a means of sexual gratification. Marriage is depicted as a morally righteous loophole to indulge in sexuality, which would otherwise be considered a sin. He expresses his belief that women are sexual objects, unable to refuse the lustful advances of their husbands. This poem offers a shocking view into a misogynist's interpretations of sexuality and marriage, in which women have no choice.
Sandra Cisneros’s ‘Loose Woman’ celebrates a fearless woman who defies societal expectations and embraces her power.
The poem looks into the topic of sexuality by celebrating the speaker's unabashed embrace of her sexual identity. Through graphic imagery, the poem explores themes of desire, sensuality, and empowerment. The speaker's defiance of societal expectations and her pride in her sexuality challenges traditional notions and promotes a message of sexual liberation and self-acceptance. The poem encourages readers to embrace their own sexual identities with confidence and authenticity.
This section of ‘The Merchant’s Tale’ by Geoffrey Chaucer introduces January’s squire and provides details of the wedding night.
In this section, January shows the strength of his sexuality as he fails to control his lust. However, he also fails to acknowledge the sexual needs of his wife, which results in her needing to take control of her own sexuality. This eventually takes the form of infidelity, which, although morally reprehensible, shows May reclaiming the independence taken from her by January. In this poem, sexuality is symbolic of power.
Once considered as a preface to the major poem ‘The Waste Land’ by T.S. Eliot, ‘Gerontion’ effectively deals with the huge psychological, spiritual, and physical destruction caused by the great war.
Many modernist literary works carry the idea of sexual impotency to convey psychological damage, infertility, alienation, and lack of emotional relationships in modern society. 'Gerontion' employs various sexual innuendos to explore elderly men's sexual desires while brooding on sin, loss of youth, emptiness, desolation, infertility, disconnectedness, and lack of human relationships.
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