February 23, 2005
Sexual instruction.
I have no intention of making this a sex-blog or a link to porn or other things for gross dudes to surf one-handed (ick). Also, to paraphrase Homer Simpson, I'm not telling anyone about my secret moves (ick again). But I've been busy reading Lucretius all day, and I though I'd share this passage that I found a while back, quoted exactly as transcribed here, in a book of poems on marriage from the Everyman's Library Pocket Poets series (of which I have a substantial stash).
From Lucretius' The Nature of Things:
Women conceive more readily, if taken
As animals are, breasts underneath, loins high,
So that the seed reaches the proper parts
More readily. Wives have no need at all
For loose and limber motions, pelvic stunts,
Abdominal gyrations. These, in fact,
Are contraceptive; if she pulls away,
Pretends reluctance, stirs him up again
With strain and push and thrusting, she diverts
The seed from its right furrow. This is why
All whores are so gymnastic; they know well
Such acts not only please their customers
But also are a safeguard, good insurance
Against a pregnant belly. But our wives,
It seems, need no such nonsense. Finally,
The little woman does not have to be
A raving beauty; she can win your love,
Without the help of any gods, without
The darts of Cupids or of Venuses,
Simply by being decent, neat and clean,
A pleasant person to be living with.
That's about all it takes, and love depends
On habit quite as much as the wild ways
Of passion. Gently does it, as the rain
In time wears through the very hardest stone.
[Translated by Rolfe Humphries, in Marriage Poems.]
I especially like the last four lines, with their being so pragmatik.
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3 comments:
I love the fact that you can talk about Lucretius & Homer Simpson in the same post. :-)
They're equally wise!
you should read Makow sometime.
www.savethemales.ca
I met him down at the university one time, he's quite a complicated fellow. It was like talking to a walking Socrates.
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