Analysis of Delight in Disorder by Robert Herrick

Introduction

Most of the literature written during the Renaissance period in England had some element of prejudices against women, which was the formality of that era. The writing of some male writers such as Robert Herrick and John Donne gives the reader an insight into how men viewed women. The ''gaze' is the approach utilized in the writing of Robert Herrick in his poem Delight in Disorder. Robert Herrick is usually considered a religious poet, who had experience in the hard life of a religious individual during his earlier life (Landrum, 49). Nevertheless, during the Great Rebellion that took place in 1647, because of his 'Royalist sympathies' he was detached from his religious position. This was ironic considering this poem Delight in Disorder, which suggests he was deducted from traditional practices and lived by a rigid religious system. Consequently, his poem Delight in Disorder indicates that he enjoyed that which went against the grain in the greater particulars of personal life. He articulates the attractiveness he observes in disorder in the beautiful things in life such as lawn and dress, perhaps he was found of noticing beauty in rare phenomena in life. This poem shows how Herrick contrasts the view of the beauty of the society in which he dwelled. According to him, anything that was out of place forms a ground of art. Herrick through the poem Delight in Disorder, he expresses his sensation regarding the order and disorder of the things around him.

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The poem Delight in Disorder is conveying something bigger than being a metonymy in it. Herrick describing the clothes of partially disrobed woman relates wishing "sweet disorder" or even a touch of wantonness in the female figure with them. An "erring lace" is a much preferred remedial to a straight-laced woman, and a forgetful cuff might suggest a touch of mistreatment in observing to the harsh moral principles indoctrinated by vigilant elders. A mind that sometimes contemplates perplexedly and a heart with a touch of the turbulent are rudiments to be wanted. Therefore, he wants to demonstrate that flawlessness is more desirable and powerful than the deception of being perfect.

Herrick through this poem sends a message to the reader that beauty can be found in the defects of both humanity and art. Also, he wants the reader to know that Imperfection is more tempting and compelling than the illusion of being perfect. He is trying to show that there is beauty in imperfection. The notion of the disorder as stated in the poem gives the impression of gentleness and femininity. "A lawn about the shoulders are thrown'' (3-4) shows that the woman had been scarf thrown carelessly over her shoulder as opposed to a strictly supposed way of dressing. The speaker seems to be attracted to the woman's code of dressing, due to her flexibility than those who follow the strictly conventional mode of dressing

"A careless shoe-string, in whose tie

I see a wild civility:

Do more bewitch me than when art

Is too precise in every part" (Herrick 11-4)

The speaker in the poem does not disclose what the lawn distracted him from, but it is clear that the garden left him something with some touch that makes him keep gazing and wondering as contemplate its uniqueness, hence, giving him a break from a rigid system of life.

The speaker makes the reader, to ask himself/ herself question such as why he is so much into the flaw in the dressing code, yet usually disorder is not desirable? Using Herrick line of thought one perhaps may conclude that the speaker prefers women to be herself. The entire poem is full of puzzles starting from the title of the poem" "Delight in Disorder," according to social structure people only find pleasure is something that is flawless, but the speaker considers Disorder as "sweet" in the first line. The disordered nature of the woman's cloth is a prolonged metaphor for life. These puzzles are not only found in the poem but also in the journey through life. Life is full of surprise, the element of surprise keeps human being on always on movement. Hence, that is the delightfulness of the disorder.

The speaker continues to describe the woman's cloth.

A winning wave, deserving note,

In the tempestuous petticoat;

A careless shoe-string, in whose tie

I see a wild civility:

Do more bewitch me, than when art

Is too precise in every part (Herrick, line 9-14)

The" winning wave" and "the deserving note" that he discovers when he sees a tempestuous petticoat. In this context tempestuous refers to a great storm, this specific underwear must have been looking crazy, so that is equaled to the one that survived a great storm, though the speaker still finds joy in it. He explains his happiness in seeing "a careless shoe-string." Reason for his amusement is shoes- string is because; he sees "wild civility." Similarly, Wilde (478) asserts that the civility of the poem is also recollected in its sensibly created series of stanzas in iambic tetrameter ("distraction" was a four-syllable word in the seventeenth century). The only interruptions in the sweet sinking of the iambs are located in the second line that started with the trochaic "Kindles," underlining the wilder tempo of fire, and the eighth line, that starts with "Ribbons," also a trochee, bequeathing the paper chain with a robust, self-governing flow. "Into," opening the fourth line could also be read as a trochee, and in each occasion, the resilient opening beat of the word is completed unequivocal because it trails an enjambment.

This expression offers some understanding of the rest of the writing. This shows the speaker does not thoroughly enjoy all desire, but only some portion of it; disorders in dress and lawn. This demonstrates that despite him knowing the advantage of order in life and in society, he prefers being in the world of fewer rules and disorderly also because it helps one being his/ her self. Furthermore, he considers disorder as a "wild civility" because it has distinctiveness in it. The speaker says that even those members of society who follow the strict orders fully in society, they also have disorders in them, which they express in indirect ways, which he also enjoys. The goes ahead to give evidence of individual disorder "bewitch" him ever more so than "when art is too precise in every part." Therefore, Delight in Disorder defines true art is the one with slight flaws in it. This disorder is what brings individuality and sense of distinction between of character in the other in the journey of life. This disorder like of the scarp is referred to as sweet" disorder is something that easily been fixed, but intentionally he does not want to fix them since it seems following the rigid laws to latter., rather he prefers the existence of these disorders because it is the only way one can practice "wild civility.".

The structure of the poem has some element of disorder. Delight in Disorder is composed of fourteen lines, which goes against the law of sonnet. Herrick chooses to add near rhymes such as "tie" and "civility. According to Ricket (2), rhymes is formulated and appreciated purely by its sound; non-sense syllabus such as 'teeth' and 'reth 'they are therefore not less of rhyme, even though, the rule state that rhyme included in a poem inevitably impact of the meaning. This inexactitude emphasizes the poet's elucidation of beauty. Also, the whole poem concentrates on showing an irony by itself, as the persona find beauty and sense of happiness when the woman is not "too precise in every part," or seeming as perfection. Because flaws make sense to him, he views her imperfections as rightness, and he appreciates the truth of love. Through this approach, Herrick successfully establishes the truth and irony in it; he applies an oxymoron in the poem, "wild civility," to stress the bitter truth. Further, he is also presenting a superior indication than love alone; the poem aggravates the notion that love is also a contradiction.

Works Cited

Herrick, R. (1648). "Delight in Disorder." In Literature Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies. (p.599). New York Pearson Education, Inc.

Landrum D. Robert Herrick and the Ambiguities of Gender. Texas Studies In Literature & Language [serial online]. Summer2007 2007;49(2):181-207. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 10, 2018.

Rickert W. Semantic Consequences of Rhyme. Literature In Performance [serial online]. April 1984;4(2):1. Available from: Communication & Mass Media Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 10, 2018.

Wilde A. DELIGHT IN DISORDER. Contemporary Literature [serial online]. Winter84 1984;25(4):478. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 10, 2018.