To fully understand and analyze John Wilmot of Rochester, we must first jump back in time to the Restoration Period. In the year 1660, the beginning of this period, Charles the Second was put into power over England. Once his power went into effect the world of literacy and expression soared, and England experienced a literary burst of plays and poems that were overly obsessed with sexual themes. Wilmot became a connoisseur of poetic erotica, and in reality, lived a life of pleasure with being rumored to have multiple mistresses throughout his life. We see that simply labeling Wilmot into the sexual category would be an oversimplification of his work, as it is much more complex than that. On the surface of The Imperfect Enjoyment, we can see that the poem is very vulgar and quite unsettling, but after disassembling each verse, we can see that his poems hold an element of satire and find them to carry a lot of wit. When reading, The Imperfect Enjoyment, the audience can see how sexual poems often end in a man being disgusted with himself, and how it is easy to blame a woman for his sexual mishaps. In this case, we see how Rochester pitifully places blame onto his beautiful mistress for his premature climax and inability to perform to meet both of their needs, after seemingly enjoying their encounter beforehand.   

      The opening of the poem begins with a fiery love, one in which both Wilmot and his mistress are eager to explore. “Both equally inspired with eager fire, melting through kindness, flaming in desire” ​(Rochester)​. Through this quote, we can see that both Wilmot and his mistress are “eager” and are seemingly ready for sexual intercourse as they indulge in each other’s looks. The poem itself is like a climax, the first lines fill the reader's mind with imagery and give you an idea of what is to come. “Her nimble tongue, love’s lesser lightning, played within my mouth, and to my thoughts conveyed swift orders that I should prepare to throw the all-dissolving thunderbolt below” ​(Rochester)​. We get a clear understanding of Wilmot’s masculinity through these lines, it allows us to see that through metaphors, Wilmot can follow orders from his mistress that bring his excitement and ego to another level. The reader can infer that the two are about to perform sexual intercourse through the literary devices of imagery and feelings. portrayed through tone. “My fluttering soul, sprung with the pointed kiss, hangs hovering o’er her balmy brinks of bliss” ​(Rochester)​. Through this quote, we can see how the mistress is still desirable in the eyes of Wilmot, and how he compliments her appearance and again uses literary devices such as speech and tone to convey her beauty to the reader.  

      By the middle of the poem, the reader is experiencing the same anticipation as Wilmot and his mistress. We can feel his words beginning to shorten in breath, representing the early climax that has just unfolded. “But whilst her busy hand would guide that part which should convey my soul up to her heart, in liquid raptures I dissolve all o’er, melt into sperm, and spend at every pore” ​(Rochester)​. Through this quote, we see a shift in tone and imagery. Wilmot's erotic and sensual literary devices we experienced in the opening lines of this poem have now dissolved into short and blunt statements. We can hear the disappointment and shock in Wilmot’s voice as he realizes he has climaxed earlier than he anticipated. Following this statement, we start to infer how Wilmot is feeling. “A touch from any part of her had done ’t: Her hand, her foot, her very look's a cunt” ​(Rochester)​. This quote almost feels as if he is starting to blame his mistress for her undeniable beauty. The tone of the excerpt is quite backhanded and quick-witted, almost saying “This wasn’t my fault, you’re just too beautiful” as an excuse for his inability to continue in sexual intercourse. Through this quote, the reader can see through Wilmot's coldness, backhanded compliments, and change in tone, that he is covering the truth when we know that he is shifting the blame onto his mistress due to his embarrassment.  

      Once the showstopping action on behalf of Wilmot has occurred, the mistress most blatantly picks up on his behavioral changes. We can vividly picture her when she states “Is there then no more? She cries, all this to love and rapture’s due; must we not pay a debt to pleasure too?” ​(Rochester)​. We can see in this section of the poem; that we get the first introduction to his mistress. The mistress has not been named by Wilmot, further supporting his attempts to protect his ego from the public audience’s harsh judgment. Before this statement is presented, we again see Wilmot criticizing his lover by saying judgmental words such as “chiding” and “murmuring noise” which show how his feelings towards his mistress have changed and how he is now judging her by simply speaking. When the mistress states this, she is simply asking if there is a way to continue with the sexual intercourse because she is not satisfied. The quote directly says, “She cried” This expresses the mistress's dire need and want for pleasure, as Wilmot is the only one who received gratification. At this point in the poem, the reader starts to get an uneasy feeling in their stomachs, or a sense of disgust for the way Wilmot is presenting his lover, whom he once was eager to seek pleasure with, but now he is belittling and dismissing. We can see how this ultimately ties into the audience's feeling as if this poem is wrong and misogynistic, and that theory is fully supported through Wilmot’s tone and speech.  

      To continue, in the next set of verses we see how Wilmot is responding to his mistress pleas for more time. He states “But I, the most forlorn, lost man alive, to show my wished obedience vainly strive I sigh, alas! and kiss, but cannot swive” ​ (Rochester)​. Through this, we can infer that Wilmot is completely uninterested in comforting his mistress, but ultimately gives her a kiss that he plays off as him being “obedient”. The reader can see that this is again another coverup on behalf of Wilmot, in hopes that his lover will not think any less of him if he ends the experience with a simple kiss. Despite his best efforts to conceal his uninterested tone, the mistress picks up on this, and we see that vividly transcribed through Wilmot's following lines. After ending the only scene where his mistress is mentioned, we are not shifted back into Wilmot’s thoughts and feelings. “Eager desires confound my first intent, Succeeding shame does more success prevent, and rage, at last, confirms me impotent” ​(Rochester)​. This quote ratifies the inferences we have already made about Wilmot’s feelings as the audience reading this poem. This quote walks us through each of the three feelings Wilmot has experienced at this point in the poem. The first, eagerness and desire clouding his intentions ultimately making his lust over the fact he is about to participate in sexual intercourse. Secondly, he reaches his goal of climaxing, but his “success” has made him unable to please his lover due to the short time frame that these events have played out. Lastly, we see Wilmot confess to feeling rage. He feels rage for the fact that he is embarrassed, alongside the fact that he is well aware that he has failed at his sexual fantasy with this woman. This is justified through his use of literary devices such as speech, specifically when he uses the word “impotent”. This means that he feels helpless and powerless, which further proves that his feelings are catapulted by the fact that he understands he has failed.  

      As we continue reading we see more examples of how Wilmot expresses his anger towards his mistress due to his failing sexual functions. We see this next when he states, “That it through every cunt reached every heart—stiffly resolved’’ would carelessly invade woman or man, nor ought its fury stayed” ​(Rochester)​. This is another literary shift that we have seen multiple times throughout The Imperfect Enjoyment. With this direct quote, we truly see the root of Wilmot’s misogyny. This excerpt is the most vulgar thing we have experienced in this poem yet, and it is no coincidence that it happened shortly after Wilmot expresses his disgust with himself. This quote represents how Wilmot is tying all of his emotions, emotions he has never felt before, to his mistress because he views this as being her fault. When he says, “...invade woman or man”, it sends a shock to the audience. This is when John Wilmot's background comes in handy, because knowing his history, we know he is not sexually interested in men. This part of the poem channels the idea that Wilmot can make anyone be a “woman” with a derogatory meaning behind it. Being a woman, to John Wilmot, means being overpowered and controlled both mentally and physically. By saying this he is again attempting to his emotions towards his actions, as in this case, it is easy for a man to blame a woman. As the poem continues we continue to vulgar and shocking quotes from Wilmot. One of these being “What oyster-cinder-beggar-common whore didst thou e’er fail in all thy life before?” ​(Rochester)​. This is again very unannounced to the reader and is filled with undeniable rage. In this direct quote, Wilmot is practically asking the audience if this has ever happened to them, while also continuing to bash and drag women referring to them as awful names.  

      By the end of this poem, we see that John Wilmot continues to excessively bash women. It again, comes across as if Wilmot is trying to lift his spirits, in hopes that by belittling women as a whole, his embarrassing actions will be forgotten by the end of the poem. We see this proven through many direct quotes from Wilmot himself. One being, “Ev’n so thy brutal valor is displayed, breaks every stew, does each small whore invade...” ​(Rochester)​. This excerpt is saying that even the strongest soldiers fall victim to a desirable woman, and these women sweep the land and make every man insufferable through the only power they have, meaning sex. It is quite offensive to all women, as he uses vulgar and degrading terms to uplift men who have fallen “victim” in the same situation he has just experienced. We see another example of this when he states, “On whom each whore relieves her tingling cunt, as hogs on gates do rub themselves and grunt” ​(Rochester)​. This quote is just as, if not more, unsettling than the previous quote from Wilmot. In this excerpt, Wilmot is stating that women simply use men for their pleasure, so that gives men the right to do the same. He then goes on the degradingly compare women to grunting hogs, giving them an ugly and unattractive appearance. This again, is just another way for Wilmot to degrade and belittle women for his simple sexual mishap.  

      In conclusion, we the readers can see when the poem is simply read and skimmed over, that it is just a poem about faulty sexual intercourse between a man and woman, with vulgar metaphors. After fully analyzing and critically thinking about the historical period and the personal background of John Wilmot Earl of Rochester, we know that Wilmot was a sexually insecure man. A man who cannot regulate emotion and uses his talent to degrade and shrink women's importance to society as a whole. After reading The Important Enjoyment, it is important to understand the male/female relationship provided to us, and how Wilmot disgracefully shifts blame onto his partner. It further proves that sexually themed poems result in the ultimate criticism of women.  

 

 

 

 

​​Works Cited 

​

​Rochester, John Wilmot Earl Of. Poetry Foundation. 2003. 1 December 2023 ​