Kamertjeszonde

XII.

Biecht.

»Our public opinion, our literature, our customs, our laws, are »saturated with the notion of the uncleanness of Sex and are so »making the conditions of its cleanness more and more difficult. »Our children, as said, have to pick up their intelligence 011 the »subject in the gutter... Till this dirty and dismal sentiment with »regard to the human body is removed, there can be little hope of »anything like a free and gracious public life. With the regenera-»tion of our social ideas the whole conception of Sex as a thing »covert and to be ashamed of, marketable and unclean, will have »to be regenerated. That inestimable freedom and pride which is »the basis of all true manhood and womanhood will have to enter »into this most intimate relation to preserve it frank and pure — »pure from the damnable commercialism which buys and sells all »human things, and from the religious hypocrisy which covers and »conceals; and a healthy delight in and cultivation of the body »and all its natural functions and a determination to keep them »pure and beautiful, open and sane and free, will have to become a »recognised part of national life.”

S e x-L ove, and its place in a free society, bij Edw. Carpenter.

Levendig herinner ik mij een avond uit het begin onzer verhouding. Wij lagen te bed in de weldadige narust van genoten gemeenschap, als het lichaam zich krachtig, verjongd gevoelt en het hoofd ’t leven frisch-weeldrig aanziet. Er was lampeschemer in de kamer. Ik had haar vroeger wel meer willen vragen van het verleden; ze had het ontweken. Dien avond kwamen de dingen vanzelf.