They Flee from Me Sex Quotes

The speaker refers the feet of his female visitors as "naked." This is a sexy word choice; it makes us think of people with no clothes on and, hence, sex. The lines foreshadow the speaker's more explicit focus on sex later in the poem.

The speaker compares women to animals, which makes it sound as though sex is about dominating women. He thinks he's taming them the way one would a wild animal.

The speaker compares sexual activities to "bread" and the metaphor strikes us as a bit strange. Like food, maybe sex is just a necessary part of life, our speaker seems to think. Okay, but then why would it be dangerous? Is there something more complicated going on?

Apparently, these girls are quite promiscuous. They're constantly seeking "continual change," which we take to mean that they're looking for new men to sleep with. Later in the poem, the speaker will talk about one particular woman's love of "newfangleness." Our speaker seems to think that women are nothing if not fickle in love.

The tables have turned, that's for sure. Here the speaker depicts the woman as the dominant sexual partner. She catches him just like a trap or a hunter would an animal, which is, shall we say, less than romantic.