In 1976 the British publication Gay News published James Kirkup's "The Love that Dares to Speak its Name". Gay News was successfully prosecuted and the poem banned as "blasphemous libel", under a statute enacted in 1697. I don't much admire blasphemy myself, or the poem, but it is certainly remarkable, and puts a new spin on "resurrection".
Thanks for sharing this poem, John. I must confess that it makes me uncomfortable--yet, as you rightly note, its craftsmanship is remarkable.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Steve