What is upon julias clothes about

The watery metaphors in "flows" and "liquefaction" provide the stream, the "brave extravagant vibration" is an oscillating lure, and "how that glittering taketh me" refers to the deluded poet, who has snapped at a shiner and is now hooked. As soon as the metaphor bobs to the surface, "how that glittering taketh me," which at first glance meant only "how that dress enchants me," acquires a second meaning -- "how that lure hooks me.

The sestet is therefore not so much about love-longing as it is about confusion and ambivalence toward women, toward sex and toward sexuality. Julia's clothes captivate the poet, yes, but he's a poor fish, unwillingly enthralled.

And so the reader now understands why nothing much is made of Julia, the supposed inhabitant of these silken, seductive clothes. It's because there is no Julia -- that is, no specific warm-blooded woman worth the wedding, the wooing, or even the sport. In her place, there is only a archetypical Dangerous Female and a culturally-loaded intrapsychic battle between reluctant desire and the deeply puritanical fear of desire.

Would it be possible to guess, strictly on the basis of this poem, that the author of "Upon Julia's Clothes" Robert Herrick [] , was a clergyman and a lifelong bachelor?

Post a Comment. Older Post Home. And for another, he thi We have no idea where Julia is. Maybe she's chatting up a potential suitor in a parlor in an English palace.

Maybe she's dancing a waltz with our adoring speaker. Hey, maybe she's strutting her stu You might not notice them at first, but the more you read it aloud, the more those repetitions will make themselves known. Let's take To Blossoms Fair pledges of a fruitful tree, Why do ye fall so fast?

Your date is not so past, But you may stay yet here awhile To blush and gently smile, And go at last. What, were ye born to be An hour or half's delight, And so to bid good-night? But you are lovely leaves, where we May read how soon things have Their end, though ne'er so brave: And after they have shown their pride Like you, awhile, they glide Into the grave.

Robert Herrick I sing of Maypoles, hock carts, wassails, wakes, Of bridegrooms, brides, and of their bridal cakes. I write of youth, of love, and have access By these to sing of cleanly wantonness. I sing of dews, of rains, and, piece by piece, Of balm, of oil, of spice, and ambergris. I sing of times trans-shifting, and I write How roses first came red and lilies white.

I write of groves, of twilights, and I sing The court of Mab and of the fairy king. So a poem that seems to be about objectifying women is also, in this reading, a poem in which the woman has control over the helpless male: he is in her thrall, thanks to her shimmering nightgown. The Cavaliers often embraced the things which their enemies, the Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell, condemned — such as the pursuit of worldly pleasures including the theatre and, yes, sex or its enjoyment, leastways.

The Puritan and puritanical values of a Cromwell would, we can surmise, be anathema to a poet like Robert Herrick. Image: Robert Herrick author unknown , via Wikimedia Commons. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email.