To my wife, Gray Foster,

and to my daughter, Eron Hamill

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

© 1996 by Sam Hamill

Cover art: La Grande Odalisque (detail) by J. A. D. Ingres, the Louvre, Paris.

See also Credits, which constitute an extension of this copyright page.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The erotic spirit: an anthology of poems of sensuality, love, and longing / edited by Sam Hamill.

p.    cm.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2397-6

ISBN 0-87773-957-9 (alk. paper)

ISBN 1-57062-234-5 (pbk.)

1. Erotic poetry. I. Hamill, Sam.

PN6110.E65E76   1995

95-15438

808.81 93538—dc20

CIP