Sit and ponder about a time where you have experienced a dream about a taboo subject. How did you feel when you woke up? Confused? Happy? Uneasy? In Robert Herrick’s poem, The Vine; repression, displacement, and active reversal are used in order to show Herrick that he is ready to make conscious of his fixation of wanting power by taking it from innocent women. For this reason, repression is used throughout the poem to show Herrick’s desire for an action that has been floating in his unconscious state of mind. Knowing this, the speaker had a dream where he took great pleasure in taking advantage of a virgin in order to gain power. This idea turned the speaker on when he stated, “Her belly, buttocks, and her waist.” (Herrick, line 7) After…show more content… Does Herrick not receive love and affection from others that are more appropriate for him? Did Herrick go through a bad break up? Is Herrick lonely? Or are Herrick’s thoughts and emotions just mentally distorted? At the same time, seeing as the woman is a virgin; the speaker may consider her less threatening and innocent because she is not experienced sexually. Likewise, Herrick may believe that he can easily take advantage of her in this way, since she has not previously experienced a sexual act as a virgin. When Herrick stated, “Her long small legs and thighs;” (Herrick, line 5) it is safe to say that the woman’s body shape is an easy target to take power over. Also, when Herrick said, “My curls about her neck did crawl, And my arms and hands did they enthrall, So that she could not freely stir…;” (Herrick, line 14-16) Herrick states another quote to demonstrate that he has a sick thrill of taking power over an innocent soul. Another quote used in the poem is, “Those parts which maids keeps unespied, Such fleeting pleasures there I took.” (Herrick, line 19-20) This quote displays that the speaker takes pleasure in taking on innocent individuals. These are some examples of how displacement is used throughout the poem to make Herrick aware of his impulses and
