English 3365

Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature

Dr. O'Dea

Topics for Discussion and Writing:

The Poems of Rochester and Behn

1. Write a character sketch of the narrator of Rochester's "The Disabled Debauchee." What
kind of man is he? What do you imagine to be his age, his social class, and his position
in life? How does he spend his time, and with whom? Can you summarize his
philosophy or outlook on life? Be sure to support your conclusions with specific
references to the text of Rochester's poem.
2. Trace the development of the military metaphor in Rochester's "The Disabled
Debauchee." In what ways does the extension of the metaphor (and its retreats and
returns) shape the poem?
3. In the simplest formulation, Rochester's "The Imperfect Enjoyment" is a poem about
premature ejaculation. In what ways can we read the poem as being "broader" in its
concerns? Does the poem somehow transcend its immediate subject? Where, and how?
4. Trace the development of language in Rochester's "The Imperfect Enjoyment." Does the
narrator begin with one kind of language (words, images, metaphors) and end with
another kind? How does the development proceed? Where do the changes in language
take place?
5. Aphra Behn's "The Disappointment" was written concurrently with Rochester's "The
Imperfect Enjoyment" (in fact, both poems first appeared in the same collection). Both
poems are about premature ejaculation/impotence. What do you take to be the important
differences in Behn's treatment of the subject? (You might consider differences between
her male and female characters and those of Rochester; point of view; plot, etc.)
6. Aphra Behn's "The Disappointment" casts itself as a kind of mock pastoral love poem,
with specific references to the myth of Venus and Adonis (and Shakespeare's poem of
that name), among other allusions to the pastoral genre. Do a little research on pastoral
conventions and describe ways in which Behn uses them in her poem.
7. What do you make of the extended economic metaphor running through Behn's "To
Lysander, on Some Verses He Writ"? What exactly is the unfair "price" Lysander seems
to exact from the narrator, Amynta? What does her declaration of equality suggest about
their relationship, and Restoration sexual politics in general?
8. In "To Lysander at the Music-Meeting," Behn establishes certain relationships between
sight and sound, men and women, and other pairs. What are these relationships, and
what do they suggest about sexual politics?
9. Behn's "To the Fair Clarinda…Imagined More than Woman" is a gender-b(l)ender of a
poem, and perhaps a mind-bender as well. Write a prose paraphrase (not summary) of
the piece in your own words, and then explain how the exercise helped clarify the poem
(if it did).