He became completely degraded. His erotic tendency, <br />condemned and strictly forbidden <br />(but innate for all that) , was the cause of it: <br />society was totally prudish. <br />He gradually lost what little money he had, <br />then his social standing, then his reputation. <br />Nearly thirty, he had never worked a full year— <br />at least not at a legitimate job. <br />Sometimes he earned enough to get by <br />acting the go-between in deals considered shameful. <br />He ended up the type likely to compromise you thoroughly <br />if you were seen around with him often. <br /> <br />But this isn't the whole story—that would not be fair. <br />The memory of his beauty deserves better. <br />There is another angle; seen from that <br />he appears attractive, appears <br />a simple, genuine child of love, <br />without hesitation putting, <br />above his honor and reputation, <br />the pure sensuality of his pure flesh. <br /> <br />Above his reputation? But society, <br />prudish and stupid, had it wrong.<br /><br />Constantine P. Cavafy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/days-of-1896/
