The Krafft-Ebing Poems
by Bill Yarrow
when she was about ten years old
she thought that her mother
no longer loved her
so she put matches in her coffee
to make herself sick
that she might thus excite
her mother's affection
for her
Case #88
on account of his impotence
the patient applied to Dr Hammond
who treated his epilepsy
with bromides
and advised him to hang a shoe
over his bed
and to look at it fixedly
during coitus
while at the same time imagining
his wife to be a shoe
Case #8
as a child he was not affectionate
and was cold toward his parents
as a student he was peculiar
and retiring, preoccupied with self
he was well endowed mentally and given to much reading
but eccentric after puberty
alternating between religious enthusiasm
and materialism
now studying theology
now natural sciences
at the university
his fellow-students took him
for a fool
he read Jean Paul almost exclusively
Case #89
on his marriage night
he remained cold
until he brought to his aid
the picture of an ugly woman's head
wearing a night cap
coitus was immediately successful
Case #36
she must stand at the window
awaiting him
with her face done up
and on his entrance into the room
complain of severe toothache
he is sorry for her
asks particularly about the pain
takes the cloth off
and puts it on again
he never touches her sexually
yet finds complete satisfaction simply in this act
Case #55
on their wedding night
he forced a towel and soap into her hands
and without any other expression of love
asked her to lather his chin and neck
as if for shaving
the inexperienced young wife did it
and during the first weeks of married life
was not a little astonished
to learn the secrets of intimacy
in this way alone
Case #102
the patient in a circle of erotic ideas
grows more and more peculiar
he avoids the society
of women
associates with them
only for the sake of music
and ONLY when two witnesses
are with him
Case #83
his dreams are filled
with aprons
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Author's Note
“Found poems” taken from Psychopathia Sexualis by Richard von Krafft-Ebing, seventh edition, 1894.
This poem appeared in After Hours #26.
Reprinted in Tantra Bensko's Word Swell: http://lucidplaypublishing.weebly.com/word-swell.html
This poem appears in Incompetent Translations and Inept Haiku (Cervena Barva Press 2013).
This poem appears in Blasphemer (Lit Fest Press 2015).
Bizarre experiment. Welcome back.
This fine work, Bill. Well off the beaten path. Unique and vital. Strong set. *
So great to see you back here, Bill, and with such an amazing array of crazy-good.*
So odd, and yet I feel sympathy for all the "cases" and the peculiar nature of being human.
Weird, and so vivid.
Enjoyed these, Bill.
Thanks, James, Sam, Joani, Carol, and Gary. The book is even stranger than this curious poem. Carol, some of the cases in the book are just appalling, but others just break your heart. Case #129 reads like fiction and is one of the best pieces of writing I've ever come across. This X-rated book is not for every taste, but I can't recommend it strongly enough for those interested in the carnal heart of the human animal. P.S. If you want to really understand "The Rape of the Lock," see Krafft-Ebing on "hair despoilers."
I had no idea this was from a book until I read your comment. That astounds me. Wow, great stuff, one of my favorites.
The shoe!
I was a psych major undergrad and remember reading some of Krafft-Ebing and Freud's case commentaries, late at night, alone in the stacks. Reading these poems, like reading those commentaries made me wonder how far any of us would have to look to find such wierdness in ourselves.*
What a brilliant idea for a series of poems. You've turned it into work that sticks with you. Great stuff. *
Funny in an absurdist way.*
Thank you, Tantra, Gary V, John, and Amanda. Gary, I guess that was Krafft-Ebing's purpose--to delete "weird" (read: abnormal) from our vocabularies, to look at the continuum of behavior nonjudgmentally (well, kind of).
Excellent, new, and perfectly executed. This shows growth in you as a poet. Your work has always been strong and clean--now it's also engaging in an even broader sense. It opens up possibility. And that's pure.
really badass, man. found poems at their ultimate
Thanks, Darryl and Bud. Appreciate your comments very much!
Love these much. *
My aprons are filled with dreams, too. Ah, yes, dear old PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS! Lenny Bruce's Bible and a fave among me and my fellow slacker buddies of the Roaring 70s. Great to see it quoted from! *
Thanks, Jim and Willie! The PG version, eh Willie?
"My aprons are filled with dreams"
How many dreams do your aprons hold?
Gotta say, the line “grows more and more peculiar“ catches the strange-to-poignant in these. Love how you structure the found pieces & how each narrates such a tightly compressed story in each linked “Case”!!
Wonderfully eccentric. Fave *
FN is not the same without you, Bill! These are strange and amazing poems. Fave.
Thanks, Ed, Gloria, and Robert! This was a fun poem to write. Glad to share it here.
Case #8 is hauntingly reminiscent of the Autism spectrum.
Case #83 made me smile. Oedipal?
Good grief, I don't know what to say and that doesn't happen often. Case #88 may have sealed my lips. Time to head back to therapy?
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sally and Marcus. Go the the source for fuller details.
Aren't we a strange lot? I like how you put case #83 at the end. *
Damn good poetry, Bill. Damn good.
*
Thanks, Beate and Matt! Yes, strange beyond strange, and even stranger than that, Beate!