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Martin Mc Carthy's avatar

It's wonderful to see these poems being posted. I like poems that are burning with desire. In fact I think that a life without desire isn't fully a life at all. As for desire being a sin, the very opposite is true, and Bob Dylan put it succinctly, 'her sin is her lifelessness'. It's a sin not to live.

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Michael R. Burch's avatar

Yes, as I noted in my subtitle, what the Bible condemns as "lust" the poets call "desire."

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Martin Mc Carthy's avatar

The Church got itself in a lot of trouble by endeavouring to suppress desire.

As Freud said, 'What is suppressed always comes back in a perverted form.'

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Michael R. Burch's avatar

Yes, and William Blake said the only people who can suppress their passions are people with weak ones! Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde both said something to the effect that the forbidden is irresistible.

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Martin Mc Carthy's avatar

I think 'The Garden of Love' was a very brave and insightful poem for its time. It still packs quite a punch.

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Michael R. Burch's avatar

Blake's angels were rebel angels and he thought independently, especially for his time.

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agnusde2017's avatar

Ovid recommended places of worship as good places for men and women to connect. He speaks very highly of Jewish synagogues.

However, in the Amores and the Ars Amoris Ovid shows himself to be a true lover, very concerned that the delights of Venus be mutual. He believed that men should rightly concern themselves with ladies' sexual gratification. He was truly the poet of love.

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Michael R. Burch's avatar

Ovid certainly converted me from a Christian to a believer in the amorous arts!

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