My Erotic Double
My Erotic Double - meaning Summary
Playful Intimacy and Dreaming
John Ashbery’s 'My Erotic Double' depicts a quiet, conversational intimacy between two speakers who sort and trade feelings while sheltered outdoors. The tone mixes casual banter and subtle eroticism as wordplay and dream imagery blur self and other. The speakers test honesty—one claims the ability to hide but chooses openness—and the exchange ends in polite mutual appreciation. The poem foregrounds how language negotiates desire, memory, and selfhood.
Read Complete AnalysesHe says he doesn't feel like working today. It's just as well. Here in the shade Behind the house, protected from street noises, One can go over all kinds of old feeling, Throw some away, keep others. The wordplay Between us gets very intense when there are Fewer feelings around to confuse things. Another go-round? No, but the last things You always find to say are charming, and rescue me Before the night does. We are afloat On our dreams as on a barge made of ice, Shot through with questions and fissures of starlight That keep us awake, thinking about the dreams As they are happening. Some occurrence. You said it. I said it but I can hide it. But I choose not to. Thank you. You are a very pleasant person. Thank you. You are too.
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