Delight in Disorder

Generally, members of the upper echelon during Herrick’s time were expected to wear elaborate and carefully arranged clothing, with clothing serving as an important mark of both socioeconomic status and respectability. Sexuality in attire would not be necessarily overt. The woman who catches Herrick’s speaker’s eye, however, is slightly mussed and, according to the speaker, far more attractive than those whose “art / [is] too precise” (Lines 13-14). The speaker describes the woman’s clothing in playfully sexualized terms, suggesting both the woman’s allure and her own sexual appeal. In doing so, he suggests the links between dress and sexual expression.

The “disorder” (Line 1) of the woman’s dress brings the speaker “delight” because it emotionally “[k]indles […] a wantonness” (Line 2). In other words, her clothes suggest that she herself is less sexually restrained than others, as reflected in the term “wantonness,” which appeals to the speaker. The speaker studies her outfit, which in turn allows them to sensually peruse her body. For example, the shawl offers a “fine distraction” (Line 4) that allows the speaker to linger on the woman’s shoulders. The loose lacing at the bodice “enthrals” (Line 6) her bustline. Loose ribbons at the cuffs drape sensually against her hands, while the glimpsed “petticoat” (Line 10) is “tempestuous” (Line 10).