That may be a product of the times he live in Caleb. There is a wonderful essay by the social historian Carol Smith-Rosenberg, exploring this from a woman's perspective called (I believe) "The Female World of Love and Ritual." You would probably find it interesting. I read tons of gay history but I don't remember offhand any particular monograph that deals directly with the issue from a male perspective. But this affection was clearly socially acceptable then, and no one raised an undue fuss about affection between men during times of war. Much better than "Don't ask; don't tell" don't you think? And while it may be personally fun to speculate, I don't know how relevant WO's possible homosexuality is to appreciate the poems. It's not like reading John Addington Symonds, bad poet that he is (though his autobiography is utterly fascinating). Knowing that JAS was a homosexual clearly does add a texture to his love poetry that isn't there otherwise.
nyctom
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