The Pope's Penis - A poem by Sharon Olds


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Sharon Olds - The Pope's Penis

It hangs deep in his robes, a delicate
clapper at the center of a bell.
It moves when he moves, a ghostly fish in a
halo of silver sweaweed, the hair
swaying in the dark and the heat -- and at night
while his eyes sleep, it stands up
in praise of God.

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Added: Feb 20 2003 | Viewed: 17297 times |

Comments (10)

The Pope's Penis - Comments and Information
Poet: Sharon Olds Poem: The Pope's Penis Comment 10 of 10, added on December 3rd, 2011 at 2:55 PM. For whom the bell tolls. I love it./ It MOVES me/ to no End. Regular Joe from United States Comment 9 of 10, added on December 3rd, 2011 at 2:55 PM. I love it. I love it. It MOVES me to no End. Joe from United States Comment 8 of 10, added on May 6th, 2010 at 7:39 AM. I think the poem is controversial, not because of the shock value ascribed to writing about the Pope or his penis, but because Olds is using these two references to point out the hypocrisy of that type of power and supposed restraint-sexual or otherwise. Not to go into too much detail here, but I feel this poem has more to do with the hypocrisy of alleged authority in general, and the Catholic church in particular, rather than the fact that the Pope is "just a man". Man can be just as malevolent as he can be altruistic. Kaiti from Greece More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, The Pope's Penis, has received 10 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own.

Poem Info
Poet: Sharon Olds Poem: The Pope's Penis Last read: 2013-06-19 01:46:23 Viewed 17297 times. Added Feb 20 2003.

Olds Info
Biography More Poems (18 poems) Sharon Olds books