In three pages this homoerotic sixteenth century Renaissance prose by Richard Barnfield is analyzed. Two sources are cited in the bibliography.
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acknowledging the connection that was culturally prevalent at that time that homosexuality equates with the vilest sort of sin. From this Barnfield begins to construct the basis for his argument
that these two topics, homoerotic love and sin, are not necessarily intrinsically related. In his dedication to Lady Penelope Ritch, as well as in the sub-title for the poem, Barnfield
indicates that the narrator for the work is Daphnis, the shepherd from Greek mythology who fell in love with the boy Ganymede. The poem begins with Daphnis describing the
beauty of Ganymede. These lines, indeed, paint a picture of surpassing beauty -- "If it be sinne to loue a louvely Lad, / Oh then sinne I, for whom
my soule is sad" (lines 11-12). Having described Ganymede in absolutely glowing terms, the implication is that, of course, such beauty is deserving of love regardless of the sex of
the youth. As Daphnis, Barnfield also mentions that Ganymede is also beloved by the fairy queen, Guendolen (line 22), who apparently has also loved others. Next, Barnfield tells
how Death and Cupid once met and mixed up their arrows by mistaken, which caused Death to take a young man whom Guendolen loved and Cupid to make an
old man fall helplessly in love with the fairy queen. As Kenneth Borris points out in his analysis of this work, much of the poem is made up of
not only Daphnis profession of love for the beautiful Ganymede, but also a comparison of his feelings for the youth and those of Guendolen, Ganymedes female admirer. While Daphnis asserts
that his love for Ganymede goes beyond mere lust and is predicated on an appreciation of the boys inner beauty and virtuous nature, Barnfield pictures Guendolens desire as being focused