It Happens

I was astonished to see how sexually liberated some of the authors from the mid-seventeenth century were. By then, unlike one hundred years earlier, sex outside of marriage was no longer being punished, and people were taking advantage.
Rochester

 According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term Libertine, which authors like Aphra Behn and John Wilmot of Rochester identified, as was a person who felt morally liberated, especially concerning sex.

Both Behn and Rochester wrote poems about a subject that is to this day, one that is discussed with discretion and in private. ..a man’s mishap in the boudoir.

Rochester’s poem “The Imperfect Enjoyment” discusses a man who finds himself in a romantic situation and proceeds to experience an early release leaving his lover disappointed. Rochester’s poem is comedic because he never outright says what happened, but delivers the message quite clearly;

 "In liquid raptures I dissolved all o’er" 

Behn wrote, “The Disappointment” in which the main character is a Nymph who is casually looking for sex. Her lover gets her all worked up but is not able to rise to the occasion.
 
"Abandoned by her pride and shame
She does her softest joys dispense,
Offering her virgin innocence
Avictim to love’s sacred flame;
While the o’er-ravished shepherd lies
Unable to perform the sacrifice"

Her companion is grief-stricken and embarrassed by his actions, but the Nymph moves along to her next conquest.
I find Behn’s depiction of the female character as a Nymph very indicative of the type of woman she was attempting to showcase.  She did not aim to portray a feeble recipient, but rather a woman in charge of her sexuality.

Incredibly, the poems are written in elevated verse, using elegant language and imagery, although Rochester does use some choice words for shock value.

Both poems end up “blaming” the female for the mishap, but Behn’s poem does it ironically. Rochester blames, not only his companion, but also his penis and curses and ends up cursing it, which makes the poem all that more comical.

Comments

  1. Virtual BordersOctober 30, 2017 at 1:32 PM

    You use the poets' words to back up your argument and that makes this post interesting. I like how you manage to discuss the intimate details in a very candid, but unoffensive way. Good job. I like your style.

    ReplyDelete

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