Partially in response to the question in Prof Kitch’s email – how do the poems seduce the presumably male reader – I noticed a common thread throughout, and particularly in the works by Herrick and Marvell. The poems’ graphic natures do justify their categorization as pornography, but rather than the sexual acts appearing consensual, the poems in many cases use aggressive language, portraying the (presumably male) speaker as dominating and forceful. The speakers, particularly in “To His Coy Mistress” and “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” don’t cajole the subjects into sexual acts as much as they attempt to force it on them, through scaremongering or other, more physical means. Likewise, “The Vine” takes on an invasive metaphor, describing the speaker’s penis as an invasive species of plant, making its way around the poem’s subject and then taking over, invading her very body.

This raises more general questions about pornography in the Renaissance age (and, indeed, how much these themes resonate even in contemporary pornography) – this porn, clearly produced for male readers, glorifies the masculine takeover of the female body, and encourages its reader to act on his lustful instincts regardless of the situation.