“Delight in Disorder” Summary

“Delight in Disorder” Themes

• 

  The Allure of Messiness

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Delight in Disorder”

• Lines 1-2

  A sweet disorder in the dress
  Kindles in clothes a wantonness.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  A lawn about the shoulders thrown
  Into a fine distractión;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  An erring lace, which here and there
  Enthralls the crimson stomacher;
  A cuff neglectful, and thereby
  Ribbons to flow confusedly;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  A winning wave, deserving note,
  In the tempestuous petticoat;
  A careless shoestring, in whose tie
  I see a wild civility;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-14

  Do more bewitch me than when art
  Is too precise in every part.

  

  

  

  

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“Delight in Disorder” Symbols

• 

  Clothing

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“Delight in Disorder” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Oxymoron

  

  

  

  

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“Delight in Disorder” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Disorder
• Dress
• Kindles
• Wantonness
• Lawn
• Distractión
• Erring
• Enthralls
• Crimson
• Stomacher
• Cuff
• Thereby
• Winning
• Tempestuous petticoat
• Civility

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Delight in Disorder”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Delight in Disorder” Speaker

“Delight in Disorder” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Delight in Disorder”

More “Delight in Disorder” Resources

• External Resources

  • 17th-Century Fashion — Read up on the clothes that Herrick might have had in mind when he wrote "Delight in Disorder."

  • Herrick's Meter — Read an excerpt from a lecture in which a professor discusses how Herrick's meter gives the poem some of its wit and charm.

  • The Poetry Foundation on Herrick — Read a short biography of Herrick, and find links to more of his poems.

  • The Introduction to Herrick's Book — Read an appreciation of the poem that opens Herrick's Hesperides, the collection this poem was first printed in. This first poem's world-relishing tone tells readers something about Herrick and his poetry in general!

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to the poem read aloud—with some accompanying images that criticize modern ideas about messiness, perfection, and beauty!

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Herrick

  • To Daffodils

  • To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time