Sapphistries

I am reading a book called Sapphistries by Leila j. Rupp . While it is written some what like a text book with the foot notes and the indexes, it is a fascinating read. I have been taking my time with it, enjoying all of the little bits of information that is there and that is not there.

What is not there is more fascinating than I would have thought. There is just enough history to know that women have a history of loving women. I am up to the chapter 4 it is called In Unlikely Places (500BCE - 1600CE). There is very little on women in this time frame but what is there is an eye opener. One Bavarian nun wrote to her lover and there is just enough of it left to tear my heart.

I feel what this nun wrote hundreds of years ago the longing, the desire, the pain. These are the words that this woman wrote sometime in the 1300-1400: . . .

It is you alone I have chosen for my heart....
I love you above all else,
You alone are my love and desire...
When I recall the kisses you gave me,
And how with tender words you caressed my little breasts,
I want to die
Because I cannot see you.