POEM REVIEW – JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER – A RAMBLE IN SAINT JAMES'S PARK. Bawdy verse by the 2cd Earl Of Rochester (1647 – 1680) was one of history’s most debauched figures, second in hedonistic decadence only to the Marquis De Sade. The Johnny Depp film The Libertine deals with his life and times in the reign of King Charles 2cd. . Rochester would eventually die of syphilis at the age of just thirty-three. . A Ramble tells of his surprise and delight at taking an early morning walk through London’s leading park, which he sees as a good way to recover from a night of hard sex in the same way that sleep cures a hangover. In the park, Rochester sees many familiar faces, bare bottoms and other body parts as the PARK is the scene of post Restoration open air orgies, with the rich and famous shamelessly making use of their whores amidst the trees and on the lawns of the park. The sheer lack of discretion and privacy seems to shock Rochester. He sees one prostitute who he has enjoyed company with as she works openly on three men at once, all leading men of letters. Rochester actually feels jealous as he is in no state to join in or take over proceedings. As a rather spiteful curse on her, he imagines her settling down in retirement to an apparently respectable man who later dumps her to seduce other whores leaving her destitute and unloved. Rochester names, creating some scandal with the issue of the verse that moves from general observation towards targeting specific individuals for quite vitriolic attention. Such behaviour made Rochester extremely unpopular in the end. A remarkable poem, the entire better for also being so well composed. The poem often appears in collections of erotica, blue verse, etc. Arthur Chappell
More reviews about the A Ramble in Saint James'S Park