Ode to Walt Whitman

A central theme in “Ode to Walt Whitman” is celebrating male-male sensuality and sexuality, or homoeroticism. Some lines and phrases are explicitly sexual, while other erotic moments come from dual or metaphoric meanings. Body parts are erotically described, including “thighs” (Line 32), “navels” (Line 65), and “tongue” (Line 129). Even more specific to male-male sexuality, the penis is explicitly discussed, from the “rose of circumcision” (Line 13) to “tumescent flesh” (Line 102). In addition to celebrating the human male sex organ, Lorca includes animal sex organs, such as a bird “with its sex pierced” (Line 36). These descriptions give the male body a connection with nature and homosexuality is characterized as natural.

Some imagery can be read as sexual through the use of double entendre, or double meanings. Gay men are described as “flesh for the whip, / the boot, or the teeth of the lion tamers” (Lines 58-59). This recalls the animal imagery of the bird: On the surface, this passage can evoke a circus performer and a lion. However, whips and boots are part of BDSM practices that exist in some communities. This use of double meanings also applies to the tools that miners use: “oil, leather” (Line 3).