Whenas in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes!
Next, when I cast mine eyes and see
That brave vibration each way free,
Oh how that glittering taketh me!
“Upon Julia’s Clothes” is a poem about “love,” about his love for Julia about his love for her hair, her eyes, and if he takes the well-trodden path, her virtue. “Upon Julia’s Clothes” is a sestet upon Julie’s clothes the poet dosn’t allow us to learn about Julia. The poem can be thought differently as it is almost like talking about fishing instead of Julia’s clothes . You can slowly start to get the idea of what the other meaning of this poem could be after he says “when I cast mine eyes” like casting a net or a line for a fish.Then you get the idea that this poem isnt fully about Julia or even Julia’s .He uses words that paints a picture of a river or water as he says “liquefaction” like liquid and he also says the word “flows” as in flowing like a river or a body of water.He also talks about how her lures have caught him as he says “how that glittering taketh me,” which at first glance meant only “how that dress enchants me,”. As he talks about Julia’s clothes he makes it seem like fishing as if Julia is luring him like a fish.
I also agree with your interpretation of “Upon Julia’s Clothes”. The author’s word choice (flows, liquefaction, vibration) provides a sense motion. Even the end rhymes of each line flows so smoothly and pleasantly. I can see how you relate that movement to a river or water. For some reason I believe that movement is more psychological in which the speaker is emotionally moved by Julia’s presence. After defining vibration in it’s context above, it means general emotional feeling one gets in certain situation. In this case it applies to the feeling the speaker gets when seeing Julia. The sight of Julia in her clothes or silk as the title suggest is so splendid “brave” and lavish “glittering” that he is captivated by the beauty. Whether physical or psychological, the movement portrayed is definitely positive and reflect love.
In this poem Robert Herrick suggests that the beauty of a person comes from not trying too hard to achieve it. In the poem the speaker finds a woman who has dressed carelessly more attractive than a woman who is dressed appropriately. The speaker begins to have strong feelings because it suggests a woman might have sexual interaction with him. The woman is no whore but there is something about the way she leaves just that little clutterness in her dress which suggests to the poet that she might take her clothes off for him.
I agree with everyone’s interpretation of the poem, “Upon Juila’s Clothes”. At first I was very confused as to what the speaker was trying to achieve in this poem. I knew it could have been a love poem or a poem about someone obsessed about a woman’s garment. However after reading it several times I came to realize that the poet truly desired Julia’s eyes and hair as you mentioned above in your blog. There is obviously no Julia present as his descriptions surround the garments themselves. Also the poem seems to figuratively speak about the sport of fishing as we see in the line “when I cast my eyes” as in when a person casts a fishing line. He could have simply said “when I look” but instead he chose to use the word cast. Another word that gives light to this theory of fishing is his mentioning of the word “liquefaction”, which suggests the word water or stream.