Aphra Behn (1640?-1689)

"The Disappointment"

1. What is the subject of this poem? What makes it comic rather than mundane or tasteless?
2. What seems to be the narrator's attitude towards Lysander? Towards Cloris?
3. Why might a writer choose such a topic for a poem? Does the poem seem to convey any disapproval of their erotic tryst?
4. Who might have been this poem's intended/preferred audience?
5. What is known about Aphra Behn's early life? During what literary period did she writer her plays? Which apsects of Restoration taste and/or customs may have influenced her choice of subjects and manner?
6. What is the poem's rhythm and stanza form? How do these contribute to its tone?
7. What are some of the poem's metaphors (e. g. in stanza one), and what is their effect?
8. What effect is created by the pastoral/classical appartus? What are some examples of words and references chosen for comic effect?
9. How does Lysander resopnd to his problem? Does the narrator consider this an overreaction?
10. What is Cloris's response? Would the poem's effect have been somewhat different had she been sympathetic?
11. What effect is created by the author's intervention in stanza XIV? By the poem's ending?
12. Is Cloris presented as sincere in rejecting Lysander's advances at first?
13. Might the character of Lysander have been intended to suggest a living person? A type of person?
14. Does the poem convey any serious content?
15. Are there aspects of this poem which might be controvesial in present-day U. S. society? How may the poem reflect the society in which it was written?