Bad Gays

A vituperative satirist who made kings tremble. Also, he wrote this: My fingers are but stragglers at the rear, Who go a-foraging for what they find; And they are not ashamed to lag behind, Since there’s no foe in front they need to fear. They’ve wandered through a tufted valley near. And you yourself have said they were most kind, And so, I know, my lady will not mind If they see other booty, nor think it queer.  And yet, it may be, you prefer the Lance; Then, let your stragglers reconnoiter, sweet, And guide him like a blind man to safe cover. He is no coward, since he takes a chance. Though he, my dear, has neither eyes nor feet; For a soldier always makes a perfect lover! ----more---- SOURCES: Aretino, Pietro. The school of whoredom. London: Hesperus, 2003.   ———. The secret life of nuns. London: Hesperus, 2004.   Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Penguin Classics. London, England ; New York, N.Y., USA: Penguin Books, 1990.   Marrapodi, Michele, ed. Shakespeare