This book, divided into four parts, uses the Ancient Greek taxonomy of
love
as its guiding principle: The first part, "Loving Men," ventures into the realms of
ἀγάπη
(brotherly love),
φιλία
(friendship),
ξενία
(guest-friendship), and
στοργή
(familial affection). The second part, "Loving a Man," is devoted to
ἔρως
(intimate love) and contains the poems for which the author's self-severing lover serves as a muse. The third part, "Loving Me," is firmly entrenched in the domain of
φιλαυτία
(self-love) and traces the highest points of the author's poetic self-definition and sexual awakening. The fourth part contains the eponymous, epic queer poem of 652 lines (give or take) that embodies an exuberant and unholy union between T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" and J. F. Shade's "Pale Fire."