The Erotic Spirit

199 Pages·1999·0.7 MB·English

by  Sam Hamill

“Hamill, poet and translator, has created a ravishing anthology of poetry
celebrating the spiritual aspect of eros, the longing not only to merge one’s body
with another, but to join souls.”
—Booklist
“From the swift grip and succor of today’s Dorianne Laux to the flowers-in-a-shell
plums of ancient Tzu Yeh, these are voices echoing off the walls of a cave,
becoming one voice, one song of eros. I’ve seen no better collection.”
—Lily Pond, editor of Yellow Silk: A Journal of the Erotic Arts
ABOUT THE BOOK
This extraordinary collection of poems—covering thirty centuries of poetry from
around the world—celebrates the erotic spirit in all its forms, from the passion of
sexual desire to the intense longing for spiritual union. Beginning with anonymous
Egyptian love songs from the fifteenth century BCE and continuing up to today’s
finest poets, the book draws on a broad range of cultural and spiritual traditions,
including ancient Greek and Roman erotic poems, ecstatic Sufi songs, Chinese
elegies for lost lovers, and bawdy English satires. Many of the poems are
presented here in new translations by the editor, Sam Hamill, one of America’s
premier poet translators.
SAM HAMILL has translated more than two dozen books from ancient Chinese,
Japanese, Greek, Latin, and Estonian. He has published fourteen volumes of
original poetry. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson
Foundation, and the Mellon Fund. He was awarded the Decoración de la
Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Poetry
from Washington Poets Association, and the PEN American Freedom to Write
Award. He cofounded and served as Editor at Copper Canyon Press for thirty-two
years and is the Director of Poets Against War.
The Erotic Spirit
A A P S , L , L
N NTHOLOGY OF OEMS OF ENSUALITY OVE AND ONGING
Edited by Sam Hamill
SHAMBHALA
Boston & London
2012
To my wife, Gray Foster,
and to my daughter, Eron Hamill
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
www.shambhala.com
© 1996 by Sam Hamill
Cover art: La Grande Odalisque (detail) by J. A. D. Ingres, the Louvre, Paris.
See also Credits, which constitute an extension of this copyright page.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The erotic spirit: an anthology of poems of sensuality, love, and longing / edited by Sam Hamill.
p. cm.
eISBN 978-0-8348-2397-6
ISBN 0-87773-957-9 (alk. paper)
ISBN 1-57062-234-5 (pbk.)
1. Erotic poetry. I. Hamill, Sam.
PN6110.E65E76 1995 95-15438
808.81 93538—dc20 CIP
Other Books by Sam Hamill
POETRY
Destination Zero: Poems 1970–1995
Triada
TRANSLATIONS
The Essential Chuang Tzu (with J. P. Seaton)*
The Spring of My Life: And Selected Haiku, by Kobayashi Issa*
River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko (with Keiko Matsui Gibson)*
The Sound of Water: Haiku by Bashō, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets*
Midnight Flute: Chinese Poems of Love and Longing*
Endless River: Li Po and Tu Fu
The Infinite Moment: Poems from Ancient Greek
Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love and Longing*
Narrow Road to the Interior, by Matsuo Bashō*
The Art of Writing: Lu Chi’s Wen Fu
Facing the Snow: Poems of Tu Fu
Banished Immortal: Poems of Li Po
The Lotus Lovers: Poems of Tzu Yeh and Li Ch’ing-chao
Catullus Redivivus: Selected Poems of Catullus
Night Traveling: Poems from Classical Chinese
ESSAYS
A Poet’s Work: The Other Side of Poetry
Basho’s Ghost
At Home in the World
*Published by Shambhala Publications
For more information please visit www.shambhala.com.
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Contents
Preface
ANONYMOUS EGYPTIAN (ca. 15th–10th centuries BCE)
The little sycamore she planted
My lover is a lotus blossom
He is the love-wolf
SAPPHO (6th century BCE)
He is almost a god, a man beside you
I love
Eros seizes and shakes my very soul
ANAKREON (ca. 570 BCE)
Weaving a garland long ago
ASKLEPIADOS (ca. 320 BCE)
Think how unspeakably sweet
Didyme waved an olive branch at me
from THE SONG OF SONGS (ca. 3rd century BCE)
PRAXILLA (ca. 2nd century BCE?)
Peeking in through
ANONYMOUS GREEK (ca. 2nd century BCE?)
Whether I see you now
RUFINUS (ca. 2nd century BCE?)
Her foot sparkled like silver
How could I have known
MARCUS ARGENTARIUS (ca. 60 BCE)
I can’t bear to watch your hips
Her perfect naked breast
CATULLUS (ca. 84–54 BCE)
He is like a god
My woman says she’d rather have me
Sweet sparrow, my lover’s pet
Your sins have brought my mind so low
My lovely, sweet Ipsithilla
PHILODEMOS (fl. 75–35 BCE)
Xanthippe, singing at her lyre
OVID (43 BCE–17 CE)
Elegy to His Mistress
PETRONIUS ARBITER (d. 66 CE)
Doing, a Filthy Pleasure Is, and Short
TZU YEH (4th century)
Busy in the Spring
A Smile
Song
AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS (ca. 531–580)
Beautiful Melite, in the throes of middle age
COMETAS CHARTULARIUS (ca. 6th century)
Phyllis, loving Demophoon
PAULUS SILENTIARIUS (d. ca. 575)
And there lay the lovers, lip-locked
Come, give me kisses, Rhodope
Take off your clothes, my love!
Even clothed in wrinkles, dear Philinna
LI PO (701–762)
Women of Yueh
Blue Water
Resentment Near the Jade Steps
Longing for Someone
OTOMO NO YAKAMOCHI (718–785)
Late evening finally comes
When my wife left home
ANONYMOUS CHINESE (T’ang dynasty)
Lament
YUAN CHEN (779–831)
Remembering
Bamboo Mat
Elegy
Empty House
LI HO (791–817)
Melancholic
ARIWARA NO NARIHIRA (825–880)
Is that the same moon?
LI HSUN (855–930)
To the Tune: The Wine Spring (“Eternal autumn rain—”)
To the Tune: The Wine Spring (“Rain falls . . .”)
ANONYMOUS JAPANESE (10th century)
Early morning glows
As night follows night
ONO NO KOMACHI (fl. 9th century)
I long for him most
IZUMI SHIKIBU (970–1030)
My black hair tangled
When I think of you
LIU YUNG (987–1053)
Song
SAMUEL HA-NAGID (993–1056)
I’d sell my soul for that fawn
That’s it—I love that fawn
OU-YANG HSIU (1007–1072)
Faint Thunder Drifts beneath the Willow
The Pool Is Full of Autumn Sky, Rippled by Gentle Breezes
Deep, Deep in the Shade of the Court
SU TUNG-P’O (1037–1101)
Remembering My Wife
LI CH’ING-CHAO (1084–1154)
Plum Blossoms
Spring at Wu Ling
Butterflies Love Flowers
The Washing Stream
Boat of Stars
MAHADEVIYAKKA (12th century)
On Her Decision to Stop Wearing Clothes
JELALUDDIN RUMI (1207–1273)
Like This
You that love Lovers
When I see Your Face
What I want is to see your face
HSU TSAI-SSU (ca. 1300)
On Love
FRANCESCO PETRARCH (1304–1374)
If constancy in love . . .
Love delivers to me its sweetest thoughts
IKKYU SOJUN (1394–1481)
Face to Face with My Lover on Daito’s Birthday
Song of the Dream Garden
My Hand Is Lady Mori’s Hand
Night Talk in a Dream Chamber
My Love’s Dark Place Is Fragrant like Narcissus
Elegy
KABIR (1398–1448)
Give up erotic games, Kabir
Sometimes, everywhere I look
VIDYAPATI (15th century)
First Love
MIRABAI (1498–1550)