Examining a wide range of English poetry by men for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desire, Sordid Images will inspire its readers to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 'ALL THIS THE WORLD WELL KNOWS' Lust in Shakespeare's sonnets 3 'SOMETHING GENROUS IN MEER LUST'? Rochester as libertine 4 'LET BLOOD AND BODY BEAR THE FAULT' Pope's exorcism of desire 5 BLAKE AND FEMALE REASON 6 'TESTING THE RAZOR' T.S. Eliot's Poems 1927 'GET OUT AS EARLY AS YOU CAN' Larkin's sexual politics