Desire

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 265 of 344 · 20 per page

• From The Swimming-Pool Library (1988)

  There was something familiar about him, some faint blur on the screen of memory. Then they turned to look into the shadows beyond, where a figure was moving, in and out of my view, dark—black. I couldn’t see him when his quiet but resonant voice was heard: ‘How’s you boys feelin’?’ ‘Want a bit?’ said the looker, with tartish expressionlessness, holding up the joint. ‘I’m stoned, baby,’ was the reply, melodious, rather stern. When he came forward nonetheless to have a pull on the last papery thumbnail’s length of the joint I knew his handsome, lined face at once, the huge, challenging, mobile eyes, the pink of his inner lips, as if at any second he would lick them clean of raspberry fool. And then of course I knew the boys. ‘Oh Abdul, Abdul,’ Charles was calling, in his most invocative and hammy voice. The chef came over, not now with the serious, solicitous manner of the Club dining-room but with a kind of flirtatious nonchalance, as if he were a fellow member. They shook hands, Charles hanging on as Abdul withdrew his long, powerful fingers. ‘All right, Charlie?’ said the black man genially, amazingly. ‘You remember my young friend William.’ ‘How are you, William.’ He shook my hand too, in a casual fashion, and gave a drugged grin. ‘Come to see the show.’ He looked along to Aldo and Bobby, who clearly needed no introduction, and closing his eyes and biting his lower lip ground his hips around slowly, as if dancing to some very sexy music in his head. I was nearly shocked by this, and dazed and gulping like an innocent. Though he was twice my age I fancied Abdul crazily, was seriously moved by him. I remembered how I had watched those places where his black, black skin disappeared into his white chef’s uniform, the wrists and the long, thick neck, and the awareness I had of his body. As he turned away I followed him with what was probably a look of stricken devotion. It was the high, haunted African brow, and the high, rolling African ass, and the long, dangling, fishing, musical hands. Staines came rattling back in at this point, carrying a camera on a tripod, its legs unsplayed making it tall and unwieldy. I suppose it was inevitable that it would be a film, that this swaying, powerful chef, with all his virile elegance, would be doing something with these common little waiters. I was surprised to remember that Charles had told me there was no dining at Wicks’s on a Sunday evening. But I was staggered to think that he—and Staines—could actually lure the staff elsewhere and make them act out those fantasies which they must have fathered in sly glances over their fatty beef, soapy veg and boiled school puddings. What bizarre transactions and transitions must have taken place. The whole thing had that achieved bizarrerie which made it normal to the participants, demonic to the outsider.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  On the contrary, Augustine commenting on Ps. 68:5 [*Enarr. in Ps. 68], “Then did I restore [Douay: ‘pay’] that which I took not away,” says: “Adam and Eve wished to rob the Godhead and they lost happiness.” I answer that, likeness is twofold. One is a likeness of absolute equality [*Cf. [3621]FP, Q[93], A[1]]: and such a likeness to God our first parents did not covet, since such a likeness to God is not conceivable to the mind, especially of a wise man. The other is a likeness of imitation, such as is possible for a creature in reference to God, in so far as the creature participates somewhat of God’s likeness according to its measure. For Dionysius says (Div. Nom. ix): “The same things are like and unlike to God; like, according as they imitate Him, as far as He can be imitated; unlike, according as an effect falls short of its cause.” Now every good existing in a creature is a participated likeness of the first good. Wherefore from the very fact that man coveted a spiritual good above his measure, as stated in the foregoing Article, it follows that he coveted God’s likeness inordinately. It must, however, be observed that the proper object of the appetite is a thing not possessed. Now spiritual good, in so far as the rational creature participates in the Divine likeness, may be considered in reference to three things. First, as to natural being: and this likeness was imprinted from the very outset of their creation, both on man—of whom it is written (Gn. 1:26) that God made man “to His image and likeness”—and on the angel, of whom it is written (Ezech. 28:12): “Thou wast the seal of resemblance.” Secondly, as to knowledge: and this likeness was bestowed on the angel at his creation, wherefore immediately after the words just quoted, “Thou wast the seal of resemblance,” we read: “Full of wisdom.” But the first man, at his creation, had not yet received this likeness actually but only in potentiality. Thirdly, as to the power of operation: and neither angel nor man received this likeness actually at the very outset of his creation, because to each there remained something to be done whereby to obtain happiness.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AUGUSTINE. (Quæst. Ev. ii. 28.) Jesus therefore, the same who said, To him that knocketh it shall be opened, hearing them, stands still, touches them, and gives them light. Faith in His temporal incarnation prepares us for the understanding of things eternal. By the passing by of Jesus they are admonished that they should be enlightened, and when He stands still they are enlightened; for things temporal pass by, but things eternal stand still. PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. Some interpret that the two blind men are the Gentiles; one sprung from Cham, the other from Japhet; they sat by the way-side, that is, they walked hard by the truth, but they could not find it out; or they were placed in reason, not having yet received knowledge of the Word. RABANUS. But recognizing the rumour of Christ, they desired to be made partakers of Him. Many spake against them; first the Jews, as we read in the Acts; then the Gentiles harassed them by persecution; but yet they might not deprive those who were preordained to life of salvation. PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. Accordingly Jesus touched the eyes of the Gentile mind, giving them the grace of the Holy Spirit, and when enlightened they followed Him with good works. ORIGEN. We also now sitting by the wayside of the Scriptures, and understanding wherein we are blind, if we ask with desire, He will touch the eyes of our souls, and the gloom of ignorance shall depart from our minds, that in the light of knowledge we may follow Him, who gave us power to see to no other end than that we should follow Him. CHAPTER 21 21:1–91. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2. Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4. And this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. 6. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7. And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

• From The Swimming-Pool Library (1988)

  He stands well back from the wall and the gutter as he eases his bladder, his penis is preternaturally visible and his attitude encourages me to look at it. Sometimes he seems to drop his trousers round his knees or to undo a wide fly with buttons up both sides, like a sailor’s. In the light of day I can discern elements of many people in him, some of whom he may for a few seconds become, so that I whisper in welcome ‘O Timmy’ or ‘O Robert’ or ‘Stanley!’ At each moment he embodies a conviction of happiness, of a danger overcome. His penis is not quite that of any of the ghosts of whom he is compounded: it is not either large or small, thick or thin, pale or dark, but has an ideal quality, startling me like some work of art which, seen for the first time, outwits thought and senses and strikes in an instant at the heart. He puts his arms around my neck, and I lick his face and push back his hat, squashing it down urchin-like on his springy black curls. His features are serious and beautiful with lust. We two-step backwards into what is no longer simply the cottage but a light-filled space whose walls alter or roll away like ingenious stage machinery in a transformation scene. We make love in the drying-room at Winchester, or in a white-tiled institutional bathroom, or the white house at Talodi, bare of my scraps of furniture and revealed in all its harmonious vacancy: simple places whose very emptiness prompts desire. In one version we are in a beach shelter of poles and canvas—the sides, luminous as screens of shadow-plays, thrum in the wind, while overhead tiny white clouds are blown across the radiant blue.

• From The Swimming-Pool Library (1988)

  It was a lesson in manners at lunch. Hubert & Eddie were particularly abandoned, cramming ham & gherkins into their mouths, slopping drink about, & behaving in a thoroughly aristocratic fashion. When Tim got up, Hubert spread mayonnaise on the bench, hoping he’d sit down in it, but Sandy, of course, who rather grandly partook only of a bread-roll & a glass of champagne, shouted out to him just in time, & earned some sullen gratitude. I ate, I think I can say, in a perfectly decorous fashion, with a slight sprawling over the table in deference to the occasion. But Chancey was a paragon of etiquette, wielding cutlery like a born lady in his rugger-player’s hands. He never relaxes, & seems constantly aware of his inferior station, though everyone else would gladly forget it. ‘Of course, we never had champagne at home,’ he confessed to me—so I made him drink from the bottle till the foam ran down his chin. All the while Tom & his boys sat by the door eating in silence, Tom taking frequent top-ups from a bottle he seemed to have established as his own, & saying ‘None for the boy’ whenever Eddie proffered a glass in his direction. Poor Tom’s boy! I soon felt revived by the drink & looked at him with more interest. His clothes were all too small, which made him look wretched and absurd at the same time as showing how large he was. Only his tweed cap was big enough, & threatened to come down altogether over his wide, if incurious, gaze. I had quite a vivid idea of him wrestling with me & throwing me about. After a while people wandered outside, Tom was reluctantly pulled back into action, holding on to his bottle & advising against any further sport in the afternoon. S. retired to the car & Chancey & I strolled into the little back room, with glasses in our hands, as though we had been at a party at a house in town, & were going to look at the pictures. And there were pictures. The room had a bowed church window, which looked as if it had been ripped out of a much older building, with rather lurid stained glass & in the middle two medallions with portraits of sweet, curly-headed little boys in ruffs, haloed in urine-coloured light. There must have been some curious family tale behind it. ‘A fine pair of fairies,’ quoth Chancey, with ill-judged humour.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Hence, God made men for a purpose; but this purpose was not for their mere pleasures, for also the brutes have these, but it was that they might have eternal life. The Lord, therefore, wills that men have eternal life. Now, when that for which a thing is made is accomplished, it is said to be saved; and when this is not accomplished, it is said to be lost. So when man gains eternal life, he is said to be saved, and it is this that the Lord wills: “Now, this is the will of My Father that sent Me, that every one who seeth the Son and believeth in Him may have life everlasting.” This will of God is already fulfilled for the Angels and for the Saints in the Fatherland, for they see God and know and enjoy Him. We, however, desire that, as the will of God is done for the blessed who are in heaven, it likewise be done for us who are on earth. For this we pray when we say “Thy will be done” for us who are on earth, as it is for the Saints who are in heaven. THE COMMANDMENTS: GOD’S WILLIn the second place, the will of God for us is that we keep His Commandments. When a person desires something, he not only wills that which he desires, but also everything which will bring that about. Thus, in order to bring about a healthy condition which he desires, a physician also wills to put into effect diet, medicine, and other needs. We arrive at eternal life through observance of the Commandments, and, accordingly, God wills that we observe them: “But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments.” “Your reasonable service . . . that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable and the perfect will of God.” That is, good because it is profitable: “I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things.” And acceptable, that is, pleasing: “Light is risen to the just; and joy to the right heart.” And perfect, because noble: “Be you therefore perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” When we say “Thy will be done,” we pray that we may fulfill the Commandments of God. This will of God is done by the just, but it is not yet done by sinners. “In heaven” here signifies the just; while “on earth” refers to sinners. We, therefore, pray that the will of God may be done “on earth,” that is, by sinners, “as it is in heaven,” that is, by the just.

• From What Belongs to You (2016)

  We talked for a while, K. wanted to get to know me, she said, and she drew me out, but as she and I talked K. was silent. He was frustrated, I realized, he didn’t want us to talk; but K. insisted, when I fell silent she drew me out again, asking about my family and my school, about stories she had heard, things she had learned from K. I was stung that he had told her so much, that he had used my stories as a way to strengthen his bond with her: they were secrets we had shared, and now they were secrets he shared with her. She kept talking, making K. wait, which was the point of her questions; it was a way to hold him off, one of the games they played. Finally K. got up from the bed, he went to the stereo on a shelf above the desk and turned on some music, not loud, not with the intention of covering noise but to cover the absence of noise, the absence of talk, which he put a stop to when he sat back down on his bed and placed his hand on K.’s thigh, leaning in and pressing his mouth to hers. She didn’t resist him, anything but; she relaxed and allowed him to lean her back against the wall. As they kissed each other I felt something twist in me, something that made me look quickly away to the posters pinned inert to the walls, but I couldn’t look away for long, again and again I was drawn back to the sight of them on the bed. I didn’t want them to catch me looking but there was no need to worry, their eyes were closed, they were entirely engrossed in each other. I was surprised to see that though K. had toyed and delayed she was leading the action now; it was her hand that dropped into his lap and as I saw it my excitement deepened, my excitement and my dread both. They were still kissing each other, their lips hadn’t parted though now K.’s hand was at his belt; all her nervousness was gone, replaced with expertise, or what looked like expertise as she worked to undo it with a single hand. She knew how to please him, I thought as her hand slipped into his jeans, where I could see it moving as she touched him, and could see his erection as well, the shape of it against the cloth. I couldn’t stand it suddenly, being in that room with their bodies and the passion joining them at the mouths, I wanted to be anywhere else, though I still couldn’t look away.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  DOES HAPPINESS CONSIST IN AN ACT OF THE WILL?SINCE the intellectual substance attains to God by its operation, not only by an act of understanding but also by an act of the will, through desiring and loving Him, and through delighting in Him, someone might think that man’s last end and ultimate happiness consists, not in knowing but in loving God or in some other act of the will towards Him: especially seeing that the object of the will is the good, which has the aspect of an end, whereas the true, which is the object of the intellect, has not the aspect of an end except forasmuch as it also is a good. Wherefore seemingly man does not attain to his last end by an act of his intellect, but rather by an act of his will. Further. The ultimate perfection of operation is delight, which perfects operation as beauty perfects youth, as the Philosopher says (10 Ethic. iv.). Hence if the last end be a perfect operation, it would seem that it must consist in an act of the will rather than of the intellect. Again. Delight apparently is desired for its own sake so that it is never desired for the sake of something else: for it is silly to ask of anyone why he seeks to be delighted. Now this is a condition of the ultimate end, namely that it be sought for its own sake. Therefore seemingly the last end consists in an act of the will rather than of the intellect. Moreover. All agree in their desire for the last end, for it is a natural desire. Now more people seek delight than knowledge. Therefore delight would seem to be the last end rather than knowledge. Furthermore. The will is seemingly a higher power than the intellect: for the will moves the intellect to its act; since when a person wills, his intellect considers by an act what he holds by a habit. Wherefore seemingly the act of the will is higher than the act of the intellect. Therefore it would seem that the last end, which is beatitude, consists in an act of the will rather than of the intellect.

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  “What I mean,” he explained calmly, “is that I want to see if I was able to inspire ‘anything but your utter disgust’ for me with my kiss.” “Oh…well I can assure you that disgust pretty much sums up my feelings,” she lied, trying to appear calm and unaffected. But it was difficult with his strong hands holding her the way they were. “I don’t believe you,” he replied. “And I like to verify things whenever possible.” “Well, it’s not possible,” she snapped back. “So you’re just going to have to take my word for it.” “But it is possible,” he argued. “It’s not only possible, but it’s also simple and painless.” So saying, he removed his hands from beneath her and pried open her legs. At last she realized what he meant to do. A persistent tingling had been building up between her legs since before the kiss and now her desire was all but throbbing within her. “No,” she protested. “No.” She shook her head back and forth as she struggled desperately to close her legs. “If it’s as you say,” he said in an annoyingly reasonable tone, loosening his hold on her legs for the moment, “after one brief inspection I will leave here and never bother you again. But if you’re lying, as I suspect, you are rightfully my slave for the evening.” She gasped in horror. When did the tables turn and he become the victor? “You can admit your desire for me directly if you’d rather,” he said patiently. “Never!” she nearly shrieked. “Well then, you have nothing to hide, have you?” he asked. His eyes locked with hers, and it was as if she were hypnotized as she allowed him to open her legs wide. His fingers gently touched her, probing her. She cursed her treacherous body even as she shuddered with pleasure when his finger slid easily into the telltale wetness. He let out a hoarse groan and drew her into his arms. “I win,” he said, just before his lips claimed hers. Her pride was crushed but she could no longer deny that he had won the battle. Still, she conceded grudgingly. Her eyes flashed with anger and she bit his tongue when he pushed it into her mouth. This did not disappoint him in the least; it was again what he had expected from her. He willingly permitted her to vent all her rage on him. After all, he understood how annoying it could be to lose.

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  “Well then,” he said with a smile. “Just so you know, if you’re going to have a fighting chance of getting any kind of declaration from me, you’re going to have to do it from over there.” He flicked his thumb in the direction of the oversize bed that stood in the middle of the room. Mouse bit her lip as she looked toward the bed. She had been thinking the very same thing. And why not? She would not mind sampling pleasures from the cat who had managed to get the best of her up to this point. Cat almost groaned out loud as he read her thoughts from the expression on her face. Perhaps he should have taken what he could have from her as his slave. But no, that would never satisfy him. He wanted this mouse forever as his playmate and rival. He stepped nearer to her and lifted her chin. His eyes locked with hers. Determined to win her heart he lowered his lips to hers. Determined to win the game she met his lips with fervor. Now she could at last give in to the desire that had been growing within her throughout their little game. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed her body up against his. As long as she didn’t speak, everything would be all right. In one easy sweep, Cat lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. He wanted to remove his clothes and feel her softness against his skin, but needed the advantage of remaining clothed for as long as possible. He also wanted her to be completely relaxed and at ease, so he prudently dimmed the light. He leaned over her on the bed and very adeptly removed the little ragged cloth she wore. Then he resumed kissing her, while his hands aggressively explored her naked flesh. Although his hands and lips were sending thrills throughout her body, somewhere in a far back corner of her consciousness Mouse could hear a repeated warning, but it was too distant to make out at first. As she struggled to regain control of her mind, it slowly occurred to her that she should not be passively allowing him to seduce her like this. She should be seducing him. After all, she didn’t just want to avoid losing the bet; she wanted to win. She wanted to see him on his hands and knees, groveling before her, just as she had been forced to do before him. She raised herself up and pushed her hands against his chest in an effort to force him onto his back on the bed. When he complied, she slowly began to remove his clothes. His body was so beautiful in its masculinity that she could not help but wonder if by undressing him she was not harming her own cause more than his.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The latter, having renewed his covenant with the gentleman, seated himself with the lady in a part of the saloon at a great distance from every one and began to say thus, 'Noble lady, meseemeth certain that you have too much wit not to have long since perceived how great a love I have been brought to bear you by your beauty, which far transcendeth that of any woman whom methinketh I ever beheld, to say nothing of the engaging manners and the peerless virtues which be in you and which might well avail to take the loftiest spirits of mankind; wherefore it were needless to declare to you in words that this [my love] is the greatest and most fervent that ever man bore woman; and thus, without fail, will I do[170] so long as my wretched life shall sustain these limbs, nay, longer; for that, if in the other world folk love as they do here below, I shall love you to all eternity. Wherefore you may rest assured that you have nothing, be it much or little worth, that you may hold so wholly yours and whereon you may in every wise so surely reckon as myself, such as I am, and that likewise which is mine. And that of this you may take assurance by very certain argument, I tell you that I should count myself more graced, did you command me somewhat that I might do and that would pleasure you, than if, I commanding, all the world should promptliest obey me. Since, then, I am yours, even as you have heard, it is not without reason that I dare to offer up my prayers to your nobility, wherefrom alone can all peace, all health and all well-being derive for me, and no otherwhence; yea, as the humblest of your servants, I beseech you, dear my good and only hope of my soul, which, midmost the fire of love, feedeth upon its hope in you,--that your benignity may be so great and your past rigour shown unto me, who am yours, on such wise be mollified that I, recomforted by your kindness, may say that, like as by your beauty I was stricken with love, even so by your pity have I life, which latter, an your haughty soul incline not to my prayers, will without fail come to nought and I shall perish and you may be said to be my murderer. Letting be that my death will do you no honour, I doubt not eke but that, conscience bytimes pricking you therefor, you will regret having wrought it[171] and whiles, better disposed, will say in yourself, "Alack, how ill I did not to have compassion upon my poor Zima!" and this repentance, being of no avail, will cause you the great annoy.

• From Fragments (7)

  I shall tell you what I think. Oft with Loves my path was teeming. Often was I on love's brink. 'Twixt the others I slipped through. Only this one victory knew. 135 Lyric Songs of the Greeks A LOVE SONG (29) Violently did Eros smite me With his hyacinthine rod. To a run did he invite me; So o'er swollen streams I trod, And through glens and thickets ran, Till I to perspire began. To my throat my heart was aching. Almost, almost did I choke; But, his forehead at me shaking, And his pinions, Eros spoke: "Wonder not thou canst not run: Ne'er hast thou to love begun." A LOVE SONG (30) On tender myrtle branches I Desire my limbs to stretch. As on a clover lawn I lie, I wish to drink a pledge. May Eros pour my wine for me, While, o'er his shoulders wound, A tunic, fastened carefully, Be with papyrus bound. For life like chariot wheels rolls by; Not long will death delay. 136 Anacreontea Naught but a little dust we lie, When once our bones decay. Why anoint a stone? Why offerings give To those who long are dead? Anoint me rather while I live ; With roses crown my head. And, Eros, call the best of maids, Ere Death me downward bears Where e'en the dancers all are shades — I want to drown my cares. TO EROS (31) The midnight hour was passing. The Bear was about to set. And Bootes his course was tracing Behind him with noiseless tread. And all the mortals unnumbered Were asleep, with labor sore. Then Eros came as I slumbered. And knocked and knocked at my door. " WTio is pounding my door? " I demanded, " My dreams dost thou make disappear " ; And Eros, " Pray, open," commanded, " I am merely a child; do not fear. 137 Lyric Songs of the Greeks " I am drenched with rain and did wander From my road in the moonless night." I, pitying, not long did ponder, But arose a lamp to light. A child with a bow and quiver On his winged back I saw; And then, as I saw him shiver, I him toward my hearth did draw. I warmed his cold hands trembling. From his hair the water I pressed. When he became warm, dissembling. He said : " This bow let us test. " I fear lest, its bow-strings laming, The rain set at naught my art." He stretched his string: at me aiming, He hit the midst of my heart. And he leaped and bounded with laughter, And said: " My friend, be thou glad. My bow is unharmed, but hereafter Thou wilt in thy heart be sad." TO THE CICADA (32) Happy insect, we admire thee, Who on leafy boughs dost sing. Tiny dew-drops to inspire thee Drink'st thou, living like a king. 138 Anacreontea All is thine where'er thou goest;

• From Fragments (7)

  However, his poetic interests and his abilities were not quite so narrow as would appear from his repu- tation. First, we have from him a few fragments of h3niins to the gods, but these are nothing more than new settings for his love poetry (cf. no. ii). Then there are a few fragments of a patriotic or martial content (nos. 50-58), besides remnants of elegit (nos. 89-91), epigrams (nos. 92-107), and iambics (e. g. nos. 63, 66). He was, in fact, a fol- lower of Archilochus as well as of Alcaeus and Sap- pho, and a number of fragments show that he was able also to use the bitter shafts of Satire (e. g. no. 60). However, in all of this he is easily outdis- tanced by others — in the poetry of pleasure he reigned supreme. TO ARTEMIS (I) Huntress of stags, hear thou my prayer. Daughter of Zeus with golden hair, Artemis, mistress of wild deer, Come thou to the Lethaeus River. And to the city of valiant men. Joyful of heart, direct thy ken; For not a wild and savage clan Are the townsmen thou cherishest ever. 83 Lyric Songs of the Greeks WINE, WOMAN, AND SONG (2) On honey-cake I first did dine, Broke off a little piece, And then I drank a jar of wine, And then my harp did seize. Now with its strains I serenade My lovely friend, the pretty maid. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP EROS KING OVER ALL (3) Of beauteous Love I fain would sing, Whose belt e'er teems with flowers. To him the gods their homage bring; He mortals overpowers. EROS THE BRONZE-SMITH (4) 'Tis a bronze-smith Eros is like; For with mighty blows he doth strike With a hammer, immerses me then In a wintry torrent again. EROS' DICE (5) Frenzy and tumult are the dice With which dread Eros ever vies. 84 Anacreon. A BOUT WITH EROS (6) Bring water, boy, bring wine, And flowers in wreaths entwine. Come quickly; for I crave With Love a bout to have. RADIANT LOVE (7) Love for the maiden he doth admire, Radiant and glad with longing desire. THE ROCK OF LEUCAS (8) Down from the stony crag above, The rock of Leucas, I shall leap, And plunge into the hoary deep, My heart aglow with frenzied love. LOVE UNREQUITED (9) My airy pinions have I spread On flight to heaven above. Because of Eros; for the lad Will not requite my love. 85 Svm^ «/ tike TOO OLD (lO) And vben iznr Ixatrd be did ^ifhoM, J^It sged gngi^ bcsxd. On brDtzT prnicmy hn^Oi ss gold U? ^puciflT dwagipraTed- PRAIXR TO DIONTi'SUS FOR CLEOBULUS Ixyrd, irbcKT plsxTDSlxs sit xxmQucnzig Lxnr;, Aad liir fair XTZophs urA ctb diiit*UiXL, And Tod-^^iected Ap^iroditr too, ThoB frho l u tum es t tbr hrigte abcTrc Them miiD lag^ mammnF diost farnjiinrff, Thet I beseedu bef cut oizt face Came wiiL i^nr kind, i^nr fBPormg; grace. To IS OUT d«ibfd mite enott.

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  The prince watched the queen’s face as she stared at him. His expectations for the evening had been minimal, namely, that the queen, within the safety of his forest, might realize the prince’s feelings and accept his offer of courtship. He had not dared to hope for more than that, and was shocked to see the desire burning hotly in her eyes. Perceiving her desire, he slowly began to undo the buttons of her gown. She did not resist or tremble with fear that she would not be good enough, but instead shivered with anticipation. With a light swishing sound, the garment fell to the floor. She watched in silent wonder as his muscles strained under the control he applied to carefully remove her delicate clothing. She stood, as if hypnotized, while his large fingers painstakingly handled the sensitive fabric. For the first time in her life, she felt genuinely aroused. One by one, her undergarments fell to the floor. She watched with interest as her body was slowly revealed. When she lifted her eyes to meet those of the prince in the mirror, the desire she saw there astonished her. With her heart throbbing within her breast, she met his gaze with the same burning intensity. It was suddenly as if she were watching two strangers, so unfamiliar were the images in the mirror, and she could not pull her eyes away from the sight of them. She saw the woman shudder as her lover lowered his warm mouth to the back of her neck for a long, sensual kiss. He continued to kiss her lightly as his arms came around her waist and held her in a loving embrace. The woman’s face was flushed, her lips were parted, and her breathing was quick. The man in the mirror was steadily becoming more demanding as his hands began caressing the woman with a thoroughness that left no part of her untouched. This did not seem to offend her, however, for she only moaned softly as she stared intently ahead of her, wordlessly allowing him full access to her body. The queen watched with keen interest as the large, masculine hands roamed over every part of the woman. Her eyes followed every movement, every touch, every intimacy. A feeling of overpowering desire came over her as she watched. Suddenly the man in the mirror pulled away from the woman to remove his own clothing. Still, she continued to stare silently in front of her, as if she were under a spell. The queen wondered that she did not turn to watch her lover undress, so beautiful was his image, splendid in its arousal. He looked at his staring lady for a moment, and then turned toward the object of her interest. This made him smile, and he continued to look ahead with her, meeting the eyes of the queen, as he wrapped his arms around his lady and gently kissed the side of her face.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Now Fra Cipolla, in leaving him at the inn, had bidden him look well that none touched his gear, and more particularly his saddle-bags, for that therein were the sacred things. But Guccio, who was fonder of the kitchen than the nightingale of the green boughs, especially if he scented some serving-wench there, and who had seen in that of the inn a gross fat cookmaid, undersized and ill-made, with a pair of paps that showed like two manure-baskets and a face like a cadger's, all sweaty, greasy and smoky, leaving Fra Cipolla's chamber and all his gear to care for themselves, swooped down upon the kitchen, even as the vulture swoopeth upon carrion, and seating himself by the fire, for all it was August, entered into discourse with the wench in question, whose name was Nuta, telling her that he was by rights a gentleman and had more than nine millions of florins, beside that which he had to give others, which was rather more than less, and that he could do and say God only knew what. Moreover, without regard to his bonnet, whereon was grease enough to have seasoned the caldron of Altopascio,[319] and his doublet all torn and pieced and enamelled with filth about the collar and under the armpits, with more spots and patches of divers colours than ever had Turkey or India stuffs, and his shoes all broken and hose unsewn, he told her, as he had been the Sieur de Châtillon,[320] that he meant to clothe her and trick her out anew and deliver her from the wretchedness of abiding with others,[321] and bring her to hope of better fortune, if without any great wealth in possession, and many other things, which, for all he delivered them very earnestly, all turned to wind and came to nought, as did most of his enterprises. [Footnote 319: Said by the commentators to have been an abbey, where they made cheese-soup for all comers twice a week; hence "the caldron of Altopascio" became a proverb; but _quære_ is not the name Altopascio (high feeding) a fancy one?] [Footnote 320: It does not appear to which member of this great house Boccaccio here alludes, but the Châtillons were always rich and magnificent gentlemen, from Gaucher de Châtillon, who followed Philip Augustus to the third crusade, to the great Admiral de Coligny.] [Footnote 321: Sic (_star con altrui_); but "being in the service of or dependent upon others" seems to be the probable meaning.]

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The abbot, who slept not, nay, whose thoughts were ardently occupied with his new desires, heard what passed between Alessandro and the host and noted where the former laid himself to sleep, and well pleased with this, began to say in himself, 'God hath sent an occasion unto my desires; an I take it not, it may be long ere the like recur to me.' Accordingly, being altogether resolved to take the opportunity and himseeming all was quiet in the inn, he called to Alessandro in a low voice and bade him come couch with him. Alessandro, after many excuses, put off his clothes and laid himself beside the abbot, who put his hand on his breast and fell to touching him no otherwise than amorous damsels use to do with their lovers; whereat Alessandro marvelled exceedingly and misdoubted him the abbot was moved by unnatural love to handle him on that wise; but the latter promptly divined his suspicions, whether of presumption or through some gesture of his, and smiled; then, suddenly putting off a shirt that he wore, he took Alessandro's hand and laying it on his own breast, said, 'Alessandro, put away thy foolish thought and searching here, know that which I conceal.' Alessandro accordingly put his hand to the abbot's bosom and found there two little breasts, round and firm and delicate, no otherwise than as they were of ivory, whereby perceiving that the supposed prelate was a woman, without awaiting farther bidding, he straightway took her in his arms and would have kissed her; but she said to him, 'Ere thou draw nearer to me, hearken to that which I have to say to thee. As thou mayst see, I am a woman and not a man, and having left home a maid, I was on my way to the Pope, that he might marry me. Be it thy good fortune or my mishap, no sooner did I see thee the other day than love so fired me for thee, that never yet was woman who so loved man. Wherefore, I am resolved to take thee, before any other, to husband; but, an thou wilt not have me to wife, begone hence forthright and return to thy place.' Alessandro, albeit he knew her not, having regard to her company and retinue, judged her to be of necessity noble and rich and saw that she was very fair; wherefore, without overlong thought, he replied that, if this pleased her, it was mighty agreeable to him. Accordingly, sitting up with him in bed, she put a ring into his hand and made him espouse her[90] before a picture wherein our Lord was portrayed, after which they embraced each other and solaced themselves with amorous dalliance, to the exceeding pleasure of both parties, for so much as remained of the night.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The king came at the appointed time and was received by the lady with great honour and rejoicing. When he beheld her, she seemed to him fair and noble and well-bred beyond that which he had conceived from the courtier's words, whereat he marvelled exceedingly and commended her amain, waxing so much the hotter in his desire as he found the lady overpassing his foregone conceit of her. After he had taken somewhat of rest in chambers adorned to the utmost with all that pertaineth to the entertainment of such a king, the dinner hour being come, the king and the marchioness seated themselves at one table, whilst the rest, according to their quality, were honourably entertained at others. The king, being served with many dishes in succession, as well as with wines of the best and costliest, and to boot gazing with delight the while upon the lovely marchioness, was mightily pleased with his entertainment; but, after awhile, as the viands followed one upon another, he began somewhat to marvel, perceiving that, for all the diversity of the dishes, they were nevertheless of nought other than hens, and this although he knew the part where he was to be such as should abound in game of various kinds and although he had, by advising the lady in advance of his coming, given her time to send a-hunting. However, much as he might marvel at this, he chose not to take occasion of engaging her in parley thereof, otherwise than in the matter of her hens, and accordingly, turning to her with a merry air, 'Madam,' quoth he, 'are hens only born in these parts, without ever a cock?' The marchioness, who understood the king's question excellent well, herseeming God had vouchsafed her, according to her wish, an opportune occasion of discovering her mind, turned to him and answered boldly, 'Nay, my lord; but women, albeit in apparel and dignities they may differ somewhat from others, are natheless all of the same fashion here as elsewhere.' The King, hearing this, right well apprehended the meaning of the banquet of hens and the virtue hidden in her speech and perceived that words would be wasted upon such a lady and that violence was out of the question; wherefore, even as he had ill-advisedly taken fire for her, so now it behoved him sagely, for his own honour's sake, stifle his ill-conceived passion. Accordingly, without making any more words with her, for fear of her replies, he dined, out of all hope; and the meal ended, thanking her for the honourable entertainment he had received from her and commending her to God, he set out for Genoa, so by his prompt departure he might make amends for his unseemly visit." THE SIXTH STORY [Day the First] AN HONEST MAN, WITH A CHANCE PLEASANTRY, PUTTETH TO SHAME THE PERVERSE HYPOCRISY OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  * A-a-a-y! Before I saw,thee I was at peace, But now I am tormented because I have seen thee. Take away mine eyes oh, enemy! Oh, belovéd! Take away mine eyes, for they have turned me to fire. My blood is as the fire in the heart of Teide. A-a-a-y! Before I saw thee I was at peace.’ The strange minor music with its restless rhythms, possessed a very potent enchantment, so that the heart beat faster to hear it, and the mind grew mazed with forbidden thoughts, and the soul grew heavy with the infinite sadness of fulfilled desire; but the body knew only the urge towards a complete fulfilment... . ‘ A-a-a-a-y! Before I saw thee I was at peace.’ They would not understand the soft Spanish words, and yet as they sat there they could but divine their meaning, for love is no slave of mere language. Mary would want Stephen to take her in her arms, so must rest her cheek against Stephen’s shoulder, as though they two had a right to such music, had a right to their share in the love songs of the world. But Stephen would always move away quickly. 356 THE WELL OF LONELINESS ‘Let’s go in,’ she would mutter; and her voice would sound rough, for that bright sword of youth would have leapt out between them, 5 Turre came days when they purposely avoided each other, trying to find peace in separation. Stephen would go for long rides alone, leaving Mary to idle about the villa; and when she got back Mary would not speak, but would wander away by herself to the garden. For Stephen had grown almost harsh at times, possessed as she now was by something like terror, since it seemed to her that what she must say to this creature she loved would come as a death-blow, that all youth and all joy would be slain in Mary. Tormented in body and mind and spirit, she would push the girl away from her roughly: ‘ Leave me alone, I can’t bear any more! ’ , ‘ Stephen — I don’t understand. Do you hate me? ’ “Hate you? Of course you don’t understand — only, I tell you I simply can’t bear it.’ They would stare at each other pale-faced and shaken. The long nights became even harder to endure, for now they would feel so terribly divided. Their days would be heavy with misunderstandings, their nights filled with doubts, apprehensions and longings. They would often have parted as enemies, and therein would lie the great loneliness of it.

• From Confessions of a Mask (1958)

  I had heard that he had formerly been a swimming coach.One winter day in geometry class I was copying into my notebook from the blackboard, keeping one hand in my pants pocket. Presently my eyes strayed unconsciously from my work and began following the instructor. He was getting on and off the platform while, in his youthful voice, he repeated the explanation of a difficult problem. Pangs of sex had already been intruding upon my everyday life. Now, before my eyes, the young instructor gradually changed into a vision of a statue of the nude Hercules. He had been cleaning the blackboard, holding an eraser in his left hand and chalk in the other; then, still erasing, he stretched out his right hand and began writing an equation on the board. As he did so the wrinkles that gathered in the material at the back of his coat were, to my bemused eyes, the muscle-furrows of "Hercules Drawing the Bow." And at last I had committed my bad habit there in the midst of schoolwork. . . . The signal for recess sounded. I hung my dazed head and followed the others onto the playground. The boy with whom I was then in love—this also was an unrequited love, another student who had failed his examinations—came up to me and asked: "Hey, you, didn't you finally go to Katakura's house yesterday? How was it?" Katakura had been a quiet classmate of ours who had died of tuberculosis. His funeral services had ended two days before. As I had heard from a friend that his face was completely changed in death and looked like the face of an evil spirit, I had waited to make my call of condolence until I was sure his body had been cremated. I could think of no reply to my friend's sudden question and said curtly : "There was nothing to it. But then he was already ashes." Suddenly I remembered a message which would flatter him. "Oh, yes, and Katakura's mother told me over and over again to be sure and give you her regards." I giggled meaninglessly. "She asked me to tell you by all means to come to see her, because she'll be lonesome now." "Aw, go on!" And suddenly a blow on the chest took me by surprise. Although delivered with full force, his blow was still charged with friendliness. His cheeks had become crimson with embarrassment, as though he were still a child. I saw that his eyes were shining with an unaccustomed intimacy, seeming to regard me as his accomplice in something. "Go on!" he said again, "haven't you become dirty minded! You and your way of laughing!" For a moment I did not grasp his meaning. I smiled lamely and for a full thirty seconds failed to understand him. Then I caught on: Katakura's mother was a widow, still young, with a lovely slender figure. I felt miserable.

• From Confessions of a Mask (1958)

  That's right, strangle him again he couldn't be really dead yet—he's just fainted—" Suddenly the boy's head hung limp within the crook of the cook's massive arm. Then the cook picked the boy up carelessly in his arms and dropped him on the kitchen table. The other cook went to the table and began working over the boy with businesslike hands; he stripped off the boy's polo shirt, removed his wrist watch, took off his trousers, and had him stark naked in an instant. The naked youth lay where he had fallen, face up on the table, his lips slightly parted. I gave those lips a lingering kiss. "How shall it be—face up or face down?" the cook asked me. "Face up, I suppose," I answered, thinking to myself that in that position the boy's chest would be visible, looking like an amber-colored shield. The other cook took a large foreign-style platter down from a rack and brought it to the table. It was exactly the size for holding a human body and was curiously made, with five small holes cut through the rim on either side. "Heave ho!" the two cooks said in unison, lifting the unconscious boy and laying him face-up on the platter. Then, whistling merrily, they passed a cord through the holes on both sides of the dish, lashing the boy's body down securely. Their nimble hands moved expertly at the task. They arranged some large salad leaves prettily around the naked body and placed an unusually large steel carving knife and fork on the platter. "Heave ho!" they said again, lifting the platter onto their shoulders. I opened the door into the dining-room for them. We were greeted by a welcoming silence. The platter was put down, filling that blank space on the table, which had been glittering blankly in the light. Returning to my seat, I lifted the large knife and fork from the platter and said: "Where shall I begin?" There was no answer. One could sense rather than see many faces craning forward toward the platter. "This is probably a good spot to begin on." I thrust the fork upright into the heart. A fountain of blood struck me full in the face. Holding the knife in my right hand, I began carving the flesh of the breast, gently, thinly at first. . . . Even after my anemia was cured, my bad habit only grew the worse. The youngest of my teachers was the geometry instructor. I never tired of looking at his face during class. He had a complexion that had been burned by the seaside sun, a sonorous voice like a fisherman's.