ABSTRACT

The seventeenth century French poet Cantenac clearly brings this device to the fore with his impotency poem 'L'Occasion Perdue Recouverte'. Richard Quaintance lists the anonymous 'The Imperfect Enjoyment' and 'The Lost Opportunity Recovered' in his article concerning the development of the English Restoration. Indeed, Hobbes's Leviathan had some close shaves with English authority. Although Cantanec's 'Lost Opportunity' verse acts as a key influence on the development of both the later anonymous impotency poems in English as well as Aphra Behn's articulation of 'Disappointment'. John O'Neill too bases his perception of the relative order of composition for these poems in relation to the translations. The tone and style of the impotency genre make for a particularly effective satiric tool. Although in many ways these are some of the most original impotency verses produced during this period, as demonstrating little reference to the longer intertextual line of impotency poetry stretching back to Ancient Latin, Wycherley's collection was poorly received.