# XXVI explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Mina Loy.

## What happens

A brief, provocative poem that challenges conventional prudery and presents Nature as an irate pornographist, suggesting a raw, unvarnished view of natural impulses.

## Themes in this chapter

### Sexuality and Gender

The poem directly confronts prudery and frames Nature as a 'pornographist,' emphasizing raw sexual and natural impulses.

### The Body and Mortality

The imagery of 'shedding petty pruderies' and 'slit eyes' evokes bodily exposure and the visceral, mortal aspects of existence.

## Key lines

> Shedding our petty pruderies From slit eyes We sidle up To Nature — that irate pornographist

Abandoning our small-minded modesty, we approach Nature with narrowed, knowing eyes, recognizing her as an angry, explicit artist of the flesh.

_The poem uses stark, confrontational language to equate Nature with a pornographer, subverting romanticized views of the natural world._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_17_se/chapters/xxvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_17_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_17_se/chapters