The 50 Greatest Poems About Sex

By Jonathon Sturgeon on Feb 12, 2015 - Flavorwire

It would be unwise, unfair, and impossible to list the sexiest poems in the Western tradition. Sex, you don’t need me to tell you, is variable, personal, and subjective. “Greatness is, too,” you might add. Maybe it is. But there is something about the poetry on this list that transcends the merely “good.” These poems, which span from antiquity to today, are great poems. There is something egalitarian, too, about this selection, which more or less chose itself. Sex as a poetic subject has a way of equalizing discourse by way of its universality.
I will only add that many of these poems are from antiquity, though, because the more you look at it, there is a kind of Hollywood pre-code logic at work: the Greek and Latin poets featured here were unencumbered by Judeo-Christian norms. As always, too, it’s not possible to include everything. Add your sex poem candidates in the comments. Also: I’ve gone light on the commentary — choosing instead to feature snippets of each poem — because nothing kills the joy of a sex poem like gratuitous notation. … Read More

25 Painfully Unrequited Love Stories From Literature

By Sarah Seltzer on Feb 11, 2015 2:20pm

Great unrequited and unconsummated love affairs in literature act so powerfully on readers that we think we can change the story’s ending. Some of us will devour a book over and over again, knowing that two characters with great romantic chemistry won’t — and maybe shouldn’t — end up together but wishing against all reason that they will. Each time, we hope that the page might turn, and this time instead of a missed moment or a gaze or a goodbye, we will happen upon a kiss, or a reconciliation. … Read More