The True Meaning of Delight in Disorder
Chouci Vang
Professor Tremblay
English A111
October 10, 2014
The True Meaning of “Delight in Disorder”
Glancing at the Robert Herrick’s poem,”Delight in Disorder”, a person can infer that the poem might be describing the delight-fullness the author feels when seeing disorder in things. There is a deeper meaning than merely feeling pleasure from chaos. The real meaning in the poem is about a certain woman whom captures the attention of the author and astonishes him. The way to find out the true meaning will be to find the literal definition of the things described in the poem..
First, by reading the last two lines of the poem which says, “Do more bewitch me, than when art is too precise in every part.”, the question that comes up would be, “What has bewitched the author more than ‘perfect art’?” With that question in mind, going back to the beginning, all the lines of the poem will be defined literally to help understand the deeper meaning of the poem.
First of all, every two lines of the poem is actually one phrase followed by a semi-colon. The first phrase says,”A sweet disorder in the dress kindles in clothes a wantonness.” When translated to literal, simpler terms the phrase says,”A sweet error in the dress sets fire to clothes which are sexually mischievous or lewd.” Knowing the line in a more simplified way, the deeper meaning of the metaphor depicts a woman’s dress, although ruined by a flaw, is more beautiful than lewd clothing worn by women. Also, the author said,”A disorder in the dress-”, implying that the author is talking about a specific woman wearing the dress.
Now on to the next two lines, the author says,”A lawn about the shoulders thrown into a fine distraction.” Lawn could mean anything, but in this case it’s used as an adjective of the shoulders. Lawns can be messy or clean depending on the owner mowing it, but it’s safe to assume the author is talking of messy lawn because it makes sense since the poem is about disorder in things. The
Professor Tremblay
English A111
October 10, 2014
The True Meaning of “Delight in Disorder”
Glancing at the Robert Herrick’s poem,”Delight in Disorder”, a person can infer that the poem might be describing the delight-fullness the author feels when seeing disorder in things. There is a deeper meaning than merely feeling pleasure from chaos. The real meaning in the poem is about a certain woman whom captures the attention of the author and astonishes him. The way to find out the true meaning will be to find the literal definition of the things described in the poem..
First, by reading the last two lines of the poem which says, “Do more bewitch me, than when art is too precise in every part.”, the question that comes up would be, “What has bewitched the author more than ‘perfect art’?” With that question in mind, going back to the beginning, all the lines of the poem will be defined literally to help understand the deeper meaning of the poem.
First of all, every two lines of the poem is actually one phrase followed by a semi-colon. The first phrase says,”A sweet disorder in the dress kindles in clothes a wantonness.” When translated to literal, simpler terms the phrase says,”A sweet error in the dress sets fire to clothes which are sexually mischievous or lewd.” Knowing the line in a more simplified way, the deeper meaning of the metaphor depicts a woman’s dress, although ruined by a flaw, is more beautiful than lewd clothing worn by women. Also, the author said,”A disorder in the dress-”, implying that the author is talking about a specific woman wearing the dress.
Now on to the next two lines, the author says,”A lawn about the shoulders thrown into a fine distraction.” Lawn could mean anything, but in this case it’s used as an adjective of the shoulders. Lawns can be messy or clean depending on the owner mowing it, but it’s safe to assume the author is talking of messy lawn because it makes sense since the poem is about disorder in things. The