Nineteenth century
One of the 19th century's foremost poets--Algernon
Charles Swinburne--devoted much of his considerable
talent to erotic verse, producing, inter alia, twelve
eclogues on flagellation titledThe Flogging Block "by
Rufus Rodworthy, annotated by Barebum Birchingly"; more
was published anonymously in The Whippingham Papers (ca.
1888). Another notorious anonymous 19th century poem on
the same subject is The Rodiad, ascribed (seemingly
falsely and in jest) to George Colman the Younger. John
Camden Hotten even wrote a pornographic comic
opera, Lady Bumtickler’s Revels, on the theme
of flagellation in 1872.
Pierre Louÿs helped found a literary review, La Conque in
1891, where he proceeded to publish Astarte--an early
collection of erotic verse already marked by his
distinctive elegance and refinement of style. He
followed up in 1894 with another erotic collection in
143 prose poems--Songs of Bilitis (Les Chansons de
Bilitis), this time with strong lesbian themes.
Erotic Literature - Twentieth century
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