ABSTRACT
George Etherege's translation of the earlier French poem 'The Imperfect Enjoyment' sparks a renewed interest in the impotency poem form following the Restoration of monarchy to England. This Poem was writ at the Time when England and Holland were at War by Sea. Similarly we have seen how Aphra Behn's 'The Disappointment' responds to the tradition by switching the focus to a female narrative interpretation of the failure. The poem 'To a Mistress' follows the same principles of theme. The subsequent publication of two editions of Posthumous Verse then reveals information as to the development and reception of Wycherley's verse in the years following Charles II's death. In the Posthumous Works, the printer Lewis Theobald reproduces Wycherley's poems but more clearly ties these to social satire. Pope's involvement in the rewriting of a number of Wycherley's works is important for our reading of the impotency poems which was used to introduce the satiric mode of The Plain Dealer.
