Poems/lyrics about sex
March 22, 2012 1:05 PM Subscribe
What are some good poems/lyrics about ALL aspects of sex?
It's easy to find romantic poems about sex or seduction poems, but I'm looking for English-langauge poems (translations okay) about all different aspects of sex. Good lyrics work too. I'm just doing this for creative inspiration, not a report or anything. I checked and Poetry Foundation doesn't have "sex" as one of their searchable themes that I could find.
What are your favorites?
It's easy to find romantic poems about sex or seduction poems, but I'm looking for English-langauge poems (translations okay) about all different aspects of sex. Good lyrics work too. I'm just doing this for creative inspiration, not a report or anything. I checked and Poetry Foundation doesn't have "sex" as one of their searchable themes that I could find.
What are your favorites?
This is not about sex specifically, but its one my fave poems.
http://www.versedaily.org/erhs.shtml
And I remember now, as in a book,
How you pushed me down upon the grass and stones,
Crushed me with your kisses and your hands and took
What there is to give of emptiness, and moans.
We strained to be one strange new beast enmeshed,
And this is what we strained against, this death,
And clawed as if to peel away the flesh,
Crawled safe inside another's hollowness,
posted by elendil71 at 1:13 PM on March 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
http://www.versedaily.org/erhs.shtml
And I remember now, as in a book,
How you pushed me down upon the grass and stones,
Crushed me with your kisses and your hands and took
What there is to give of emptiness, and moans.
We strained to be one strange new beast enmeshed,
And this is what we strained against, this death,
And clawed as if to peel away the flesh,
Crawled safe inside another's hollowness,
posted by elendil71 at 1:13 PM on March 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
The E.E. Cummings poem that starts "I like my body when it is with your/body" is incidentally romantic but mostly just about the physical pleasure of bodies.
posted by muddgirl at 1:14 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by muddgirl at 1:14 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
O Amor Natural by Carlos Drummond de Andrade is a Brazilian classic on the subject.
Here is a documentary film about the poems that includes subtitles in English.
posted by umbú at 1:15 PM on March 22, 2012
Here is a documentary film about the poems that includes subtitles in English.
posted by umbú at 1:15 PM on March 22, 2012
I think you want Bjork's album Vespertine.
posted by bfranklin at 1:23 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by bfranklin at 1:23 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
Maybe check out Pablo Neruda.
posted by postel's law at 1:38 PM on March 22, 2012
posted by postel's law at 1:38 PM on March 22, 2012
kimdog beat me to the Sharon Olds recommendation. I used to teach that in my Intro to Lit class in grad school, and it always engendered (heh) a day's worth of discussion.
posted by scody at 1:42 PM on March 22, 2012
posted by scody at 1:42 PM on March 22, 2012
Since you said lyrics, I'd like to point you toward one of the most sweetly erotic songs ever, "Bucket of Girls" by David Mead:
Diving for pearls, I ran out of air
Swam through the world of bosoms and hair
Pristine she was, but weren't they all
Mercy, what god gave a girl
What's there to fear in the curl of a lip
The lamp lights the shoulder
And spills down the hip
South of Virginia the toes painted red
The glory of flowers in bloom
posted by jbickers at 1:51 PM on March 22, 2012
Diving for pearls, I ran out of air
Swam through the world of bosoms and hair
Pristine she was, but weren't they all
Mercy, what god gave a girl
What's there to fear in the curl of a lip
The lamp lights the shoulder
And spills down the hip
South of Virginia the toes painted red
The glory of flowers in bloom
posted by jbickers at 1:51 PM on March 22, 2012
Don't forget W.H. Auden's blowjob poem.
posted by verstegan at 2:50 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by verstegan at 2:50 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]
Nthing Sharon Olds, she is the supreme poet of sex and the body in all its grotesqueness and gloriousness! I particularly love her poem "Topography", which is a little less explicit than her usual poems about penises and drooping breasts and sweating after making love! :
After we flew across the country we
got in bed, laid our bodies
delicately together, like maps laid
face to face, East to West, my
San Francisco against your New York, your
Fire Island against my Sonoma, my
New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho
bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas
burning against your Kansas your Kansas
burning against my Kansas, your Eastern
Standard Time pressing into my
Pacific Time, my Mountain Time
beating against your Central Time, your
sun rising swiftly from the right my
sun rising swiftly from the left your
moon rising slowly from the left my
moon rising slowly from the right until
all four bodies of the sky
burn about us, sealing us together,
all our cities twin cities,
all our states united, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
posted by araisingirl at 2:59 PM on March 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
After we flew across the country we
got in bed, laid our bodies
delicately together, like maps laid
face to face, East to West, my
San Francisco against your New York, your
Fire Island against my Sonoma, my
New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho
bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas
burning against your Kansas your Kansas
burning against my Kansas, your Eastern
Standard Time pressing into my
Pacific Time, my Mountain Time
beating against your Central Time, your
sun rising swiftly from the right my
sun rising swiftly from the left your
moon rising slowly from the left my
moon rising slowly from the right until
all four bodies of the sky
burn about us, sealing us together,
all our cities twin cities,
all our states united, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
posted by araisingirl at 2:59 PM on March 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Wendy Cope, from her collection of poems, "Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis":
Some people like sex more than others –
You seem to like it a lot,
There’s nothing wrong with being innocent or high-minded
But I’m glad you’re not.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2012
Some people like sex more than others –
You seem to like it a lot,
There’s nothing wrong with being innocent or high-minded
But I’m glad you’re not.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2012
Poets.org has a Poems About Passion and Sex section (left sidebar has links to individual poems).
posted by Vibrissa at 3:57 PM on March 22, 2012
posted by Vibrissa at 3:57 PM on March 22, 2012
Eros by H.D. There seem to be 2 versions of this poem.
posted by lathrop at 6:25 PM on March 22, 2012
posted by lathrop at 6:25 PM on March 22, 2012
Sunlight in a Jar by the Lucksmiths.
We've never been much chop at all that sensual stuff
One of us always seems to stop before the other's had enough
Like a self-help manual that's been written in Braille
It seems the more that we touch, the more we learn about our failures
posted by jeudi at 7:13 PM on March 22, 2012
We've never been much chop at all that sensual stuff
One of us always seems to stop before the other's had enough
Like a self-help manual that's been written in Braille
It seems the more that we touch, the more we learn about our failures
posted by jeudi at 7:13 PM on March 22, 2012
You want a copy of Passionate Hearts (Amazon). The poems are wonderful and run from monogamy to anonymous one-night stands to guilt and desire to pure sensual imagery.
posted by viggorlijah at 10:47 PM on March 22, 2012
posted by viggorlijah at 10:47 PM on March 22, 2012
For non-romantic lyrics about the darker side of sex, Arab Strap are your go to band. 'Stink' is a pretty good example:
Burn these sheets that we've just fucked inposted by ninebelow at 5:25 AM on March 23, 2012
My weekend beacon, I've been sucked in
Just one more time and then you'll get tucked in
I think you might still be my best
Come with me cause I want a thrill now
It's okay cause I'm on the Pill now
We hardly spoke, we just stood around looming
Then we slipped away while the party was booming
We've got so good now at just presuming
Why won't you let me rest?
Come with me now, no-one will miss you
Do what you want, don't expect me to kiss you
It's your skin and your breath and your sweat and greasy hair
The empty cans and makeshift ashtrays everywhere
Strangers waking up in the Monday morning stink
Of course I feel sick but it's not why you think
Come with me but this is the last time
Understand you're no more than a pastime
My sharp exit could not have been quicker
But my excuse could have been a bit slicker
Just be polite now and get down and lick her
I think it's time we both get dressed
Busines Time, Flight of the Conchords:
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love. You know how I know? Because it's Wednesday. And Wednesday night is the night that we usually make love. Monday night is my night to cook. Tuesday night we go and visit your mother, but Wednesday night we make sweet, weekly love. It's when everything is just right. There's nothing good on TV. You haven't had your after-work social sports team practice so you're not too tired. Oh boy...it's all on. You lean in and say something sexy like, "I might go to bed I've got work in the morning." I know what you're trying to say girl. You're trying to say, "Oh, yeah. It's business time. It's business time."
It's business.
It's business time.
I know what you're trying to say you're trying to say it's time for business it's business time. Ooh!
It's business.
It's business time.
(Jermaine makes some moans)
Then we're in the bathroom, brushing our teeth. That's all part of the foreplay. I love foreplay...
a-Chicka-chicka, a-chicka-chicka, a-chicka-chickow-ow-oww!
Then you sort out the recycling. That isn't part of the foreplay process but it is still very important. Next thing you know we're in the bedroom. You're wearing that baggy old ugly t-shirt you got from your work several years ago. Mmm, you know the one, baby...with the curry stain. Oww!
I remove my clothes very, very clumsily, tripping sensuously over my pants. Now I'm naked, except for my socks, and you know when I'm down to just my socks what time it is...
It's business.
It's business time.
You know when I'm down to my socks it's time for business that's why they call it business socks.
It's business.
It's business time.
Oh. (More moans)
Ooh, makin' love.
Makin' love for...
Makin' love for two...
Makin' love for two...minutes.
When it's with me, girl, you only need two minutes, because I'm so intense. You say something like, "Is that it?" I know what you're trying to say. You're trying to say, "Aww yeah, that's it." Then you tell me you want some more. Well, I'm not surprised. But I'm quite sleepy.
It's business.
It's business time.
Business hours are over, baby
posted by craven_morhead at 10:35 AM on March 23, 2012
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love. You know how I know? Because it's Wednesday. And Wednesday night is the night that we usually make love. Monday night is my night to cook. Tuesday night we go and visit your mother, but Wednesday night we make sweet, weekly love. It's when everything is just right. There's nothing good on TV. You haven't had your after-work social sports team practice so you're not too tired. Oh boy...it's all on. You lean in and say something sexy like, "I might go to bed I've got work in the morning." I know what you're trying to say girl. You're trying to say, "Oh, yeah. It's business time. It's business time."
It's business.
It's business time.
I know what you're trying to say you're trying to say it's time for business it's business time. Ooh!
It's business.
It's business time.
(Jermaine makes some moans)
Then we're in the bathroom, brushing our teeth. That's all part of the foreplay. I love foreplay...
a-Chicka-chicka, a-chicka-chicka, a-chicka-chickow-ow-oww!
Then you sort out the recycling. That isn't part of the foreplay process but it is still very important. Next thing you know we're in the bedroom. You're wearing that baggy old ugly t-shirt you got from your work several years ago. Mmm, you know the one, baby...with the curry stain. Oww!
I remove my clothes very, very clumsily, tripping sensuously over my pants. Now I'm naked, except for my socks, and you know when I'm down to just my socks what time it is...
It's business.
It's business time.
You know when I'm down to my socks it's time for business that's why they call it business socks.
It's business.
It's business time.
Oh. (More moans)
Ooh, makin' love.
Makin' love for...
Makin' love for two...
Makin' love for two...minutes.
When it's with me, girl, you only need two minutes, because I'm so intense. You say something like, "Is that it?" I know what you're trying to say. You're trying to say, "Aww yeah, that's it." Then you tell me you want some more. Well, I'm not surprised. But I'm quite sleepy.
It's business.
It's business time.
Business hours are over, baby
posted by craven_morhead at 10:35 AM on March 23, 2012
Coming back into this:
The Poetry Foundation may not have "sex" as a topic, but it does have "desire".
Also, seek out the Erotic Poems book from the Everyman Pocket Library series. I notice they also have a book of Chinese erotic poems.
There are also many, many anthologies of erotic poems.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:27 AM on March 6, 2013
The Poetry Foundation may not have "sex" as a topic, but it does have "desire".
Also, seek out the Erotic Poems book from the Everyman Pocket Library series. I notice they also have a book of Chinese erotic poems.
There are also many, many anthologies of erotic poems.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:27 AM on March 6, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:11 PM on March 22, 2012 [1 favorite]