Analysis of Delight in disorder

Robert Herrick 1591 (London) – 1674 (Dean Prior)



A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness;
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction;
An erring lace, which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher;
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly;
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.


Scheme AABCDDEFGGEHII
Poetic Form
Metre 01010001 10101 01010101 0101010 11011101 10101 01010011 10111 01010101 0010010 01011011 11010100 11011111 110101001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 432
Words 77
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 348
Words per stanza (avg) 74
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 20, 2023

23 sec read
488

Robert Herrick

Robert Herrick was born in London, England, in 1591. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith (his uncle, Sir William), but went to Cambridge, at St John's, in 1613. He was ordained at Peterborough in 1623 and became chaplain to the Duke of Buckingham a few years later. "Hesperides" - a collection of 1200 lyrical poems - was published in 1648 and it remained his magnum opus. Herrick died in 1674, aged 83. more…

All Robert Herrick poems | Robert Herrick Books

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