Ralph's nostalgic piece about the love poems of yesteryear made me think of how many so-called love poems are actually about sexual frustration.
A common theme is the older lover, still fixated on the attractions of the young and the beautiful, in vain. (SPOILER ALERT: the young and the beautiful ALSO tend to prefer the attractions of the young and the beautiful. Who knew?)
Quote:
Piazza Piece
John Crowe Ransom
--I am a gentleman in a dustcoat trying
To make you hear. Your ears are soft and small
And listen to an old man not at all;
They want the young men’s whispering and sighing.
But see the roses on your trellis dying
And hear the spectral singing of the moon;
For I must have my lovely lady soon,
I am a gentleman in a dustcoat trying.
--I am a lady young in beauty waiting
Until my truelove comes, and then we kiss.
But what grey man among the vines is this
Whose words are dry and faint as in a dream?
Back from my trellis, Sir, before I scream!
I am a lady young in beauty waiting.
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