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254
himself and he had the look of permanence, of immutability. Cemi acquires
that same appearance the instant that he begins to express his ideas; this
is a prelude to his career as a poet, since he has already accepted his vo-
cation. As a poet he will conquer Time.
In the course of examining the character of Foci6n, we have seen that Frone-
sis regards the aim of the homosexual and the poet as similar, that is, the
conquest of Time; the power to stop or turn back the clock is what each is
seeking, but the poet takes a positive attitude to his visit to the Uncon-
scious, while the homosexual, at least according to Jungian psychologists
such as Neumann, prefers to dwell there permanently as a child in the womb.
Having listened to Foci6n's argument in answer to his opening_ statement,
Fronesis replies at length. His main objection is that Foci6n's conclusion,
that sexual intercourse and procreation make Man vulnerable to death, does
not follow from his argument. He attempts to broaden the concept of sex-
uality
by
citing examples of clearly heterosexual men who nevertheless do
not conform to the accepted customs of heterosexual intercourse since their
experience is incomplete without some unusual caress, form of dress or the
satisfaction of some other harmless fetish. What these foibles reveal,
Fronesis claims, is "la reminiscencia de un menoscabo de la sexualidad" (I,
360), but he does not attempt to define it. Instead he offers three rather
intriguing anecdotes taken from the lives of three famous historical figures;
Julius Caesar, Benvenuto Cellini and Casanova. Each tale illustrates a
different attitude to homosexuality: Caesar is immune to accusations and in-
sinuation thanks to his divinity; Cellini rebuffs his tormentors by expres-
sing the desire to indulge in "tan noble arte" (1,361), implying that homo-
sexual love is the sport of gods and monarchs; Casanova displays what Lezama
considers to be a cynical attitude, denying his half-hidden desires. He
says of him: "tanto Casanova como el mismo Gide, usaban la m6scara del since-
rismo, pero el cinismo en estado puro es tan diffcil como el total verbo que