HIGH GEAR/JUNE 1977

FEATURES

PAGE 11

I died Beauty-but was scarce Adjusted in the Tomb

When One who died for Truth, was lain In an adjoining Room-

. He questioned softly "Why I failed"? "For Beauty", I replied"And I for Truth-the two are OneWe Brethren, are", He said-

And so, as Kinsmen, met a nightWe talked between the RoomsUntil the Moss had reached our lipsAnd covered up-our names-

I'm Nobody! Who are you! Are you-Nobody-too? Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell! They'd banish us-you know-

How dreary-to be-Somebody! How public-like a Frog-

To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog'

Emily Dickinson

My life closed twice before its close It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me

So huge, so hopeless to conceive As these that twice befell Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell.

"Hope" is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul-

And sings the tune without the wordsAnd never stops-at all-

And sweetest-in the Gale-is heard-

And sore must be the stormThat could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm-

I've heard it in the chillest landAnd on the strangest SeaYet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb of Me.

Wild Nights-Wild Nights!

Were I with thee

Wild Nights should be Our luxury!

Futile the Winds-

To a Heart in PortDone with the CompassDone with the Chart!

Rowing in Eden-

Ah, the Sea!

Might I but moor-tonight-In Tace!

Adam's rib

217 CALHOUN ST., CINCINNATI, OHIO (513) 281-9691 8:30 2.30 AM.

3rd. ANNIVERSARY JULY 1-31

Come join the fun at Adam's Rib-July is Anniversary Month

Every Sunday Door Prizes

Every Monday69¢ night

Tuesday LUCKY NUMBERS free drink

Wednesday Special Prizes

Thursday Special Surprise

Fri. & Sat. Disco Nights 2nd floor

3rd ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Tuesday July 12 FREE Buffet & Champagne

GAY POETRY

PART I

(NEXT MONTH PART II)

Poetry is a genre with the unique ability to fuse distantly related ideas to give rise to new impressions and concepts. This is, of course, accomplished through the vehicle of the metaphor. Lyrical expression could be described as a promiscuous convergence of words to form syntactical units with no utilitarian purpose other than the very beauty of their combination and recombination. The seeds of philosophy can be found in the abstract substitutions performed by poets.

The symphonic ambiguity and multi-entendre of verse make it a logical sanctuary for closeted and open gay dissertation. -Intimacies can be conveyed

through lyrical passages without compromising their sincerity and power. Poetry permits even such biological fundaments as sex to transcend concreteness and appeal to a metaphysical sensibility.

Overtly homosexual poetry in the West comprises a tradition measuring from antiquity to the present. Courageous gay laureates have converged to make the entire history of the genre homoemotionally "topheavy." Even the blatant heterosexuality of Rimbaud and Verlaine seems superficial and awkward, failing to conceal their homosexual predispositions.

Christianity.

The classical Greek literature which we know today (including Plato's Symposium) were preserved almost entirely by liberal Islamic scholars during the Middle Ages.

For nearly two millenia during which time it was impossible to be published for being a woman, let alone for being gay, the gay human experience has been thoroughly and utterly whitewashed. We cannot even speculate as to whether such celebrated literati as Voltaire (an intimate associate of gay Frederick the Great) or Dante were bi-or homosexual. Their biographies and expression, like anyone's, are potentially heterosexualized, leaving no clues. No doubt, in innumerable cases, we are outsiders looking in upon our own condition, disguised as straight art.

Although gays cannot lay claim to the entire mass of Western versification, we can certainly expropriate the finest of it i.e. Shakespeare, Dickenson, Goethe, Tennyson and Sappho. Our spiritual agony is attributable to the ongoing cultural holocaust which our literature has endured. None of the masterpieces of Sappho are extant today due to the systematic destruction of them by Justinian. Only a few epigrams and short poems (probably carved monuments) survive, plus some concise, highly personal works, no doubt sustained by their popular or folk appeal. We have no way of determining how much homophilic lore has perished, like Sappho's compositions, with the spread of

on

Although we occasionally hear fleeting references to our artistic "roots," many of us fail to sense the real impact of excellent gay literature. For this reason, and to foster gay pride, High Gear is publishing the following excerpts from some of the gay classics: