creatures like snakes, or deceptive visions forged
in the darkness, may be abroad. Or one may
experience the night itself as spooky. On all
these points the poet assures Julia to have no
fear. Implicitly, the poem suggests by images of
snakes and will-o’-the-wisps that Julia may have
conscientious objections and not merely practical
ones—that her liaison with him may put her in
moral danger. It is the problem of sin that the
poet addresses by allusions to such emblematic
representations of sin as the will-o’-the-wisp and
the snake. The will-o’-the-wisp is often assumed
to be a work of the devil, an illumination on earth
derived from one of hell’s burning coals glow-
ing on earth. The snake, in Judeo-Christianity,
is a primary representation of the devil, for in
thatguiseheappearedinEdentoEvewhenhe
tempted her to eat fruit of the forbidden tree
and accomplished her expulsion, along with
Adam and all mankind, from paradise. The
poem is a spell by which the poet banishes
such dangers and invokes safety.Seduction
‘‘The Night Piece: To Julia’’ is a poem devised to
persuade the woman that the poet desires to visit
him at night by convincing her that it is not
hazardous to come to him. The theme of seduc-
tion is implicit, however, rather than overt, since
the poet hardly speaks of the lady’s qualities or
his own. Rather, assuming that her desire is
equal to his, the task he sets to in his poem is to
encourage her to overcome whatever hesitations
she might offer against the liaison, on the surface
assuming the hesitations to be practical rather
than conscientious.Sensual Pleasure
‘‘The Night Piece: To Julia’’ is a poem implicitly
celebrating the pursuit of love and sensual
pleasure. The nocturnal world of glowworms,
will-o’-the-wisps, elves, shooting stars, dark-
ness, ghosts, and the moon surrounds the noctur-
nal liaison. The sensuous night world constitutes
the substance of Herrick’s verse and is presented
as a palpable presence. Glowworms have eyes
that are used to attract other glowworms. Shoot-
ing stars flame and vanish, as if emblems in
nature of passion aroused and satisfied. Elves
have glowing eyes. Snakes bite. Ghosts frighten.
The difficulties the poet asks the lady to over-
come in her passage to him are all resolved in the
sensuous image of her feet, which are silvery
perhaps because of silver slippers upon them or
because they have the swiftness of quicksilver.
The final image of the poet pouring his soul
into Julia is obvious in its erotic sensuality. It is
an image that yokes the spiritual and the sensual
because of the suggestiveness of the word ‘‘soul,’’
whichisoftenassociatedwithsemen,asitisby
Saint Thomas Aquinas in hisSumma Theolog-
ica(written 1265–1274) when he considers, in
articles 1 and 2 of question 118, whether the
soul is transmitted through the process of sex-
ual insemination.TOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY Review several poems by the early seven-
teenth-century poet John Donne, and then
write an essay comparing his poetry to Her-
rick’s poetry. Pay particular attention to dif-
ferences in diction and to the handling of the
subject matter.
Reviewing the several ideological, religious,
and political cultures that make up the
American landscape, discuss various atti-
tudes and approaches to love and lust pres-
ently influencing the nature of American
culture, politics, and values. In an essay,
compare these circumstances to those in sev-
enteenth-century England.
Prepare a twenty-minute oral report on the
English Civil War. Discuss the conditions
that led up to the war, the factions, the
issues, the various responses to the issues,
and the results of the war, both at the time
and afterward.
Write a song or poem in which you attempt
to persuade someone to do something,
showing what obstacles may exist to frus-
trate the desired action and how those
obstacles can be overcome.The Night Piece: To Julia