She was a Phantom of delight by William Wordsworth

She was a Phantom of delight

 by William Wordsworth  

SHE was a Phantom of delight
When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A lovely Apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament:
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.
I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food,
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death:
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly plann'd
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel light.

Poem Analysis:

“Phantom of delight” by Wordsworth, yet another Romance themed poem, describes how his perspective about his wife changes. The 3 stanzas of the poem filled with metaphysical features and the title itself carrying an oxymoron, holds 10 lines each, representing those 3 stages in which Wordsworth got to know his wife better. Except for lines 1 &2 on the 2^nd stanza, the entire poem is rhymed with couplets.

In stanza 1, the poet is fascinated by his wife’s looks, he sees her as a spirit “to haunt, to startle, to way-lay”. Words such as “apparition” gives her characteristics of a rather perfect woman. This is also supported by the similes used to compare her to the seasons and nature. Later on, in stanza 2, William tends to have seen glimpses of her soul, still not ignoring her outer beauties, through her household motions which he describes as “light and free”. The use of loaded words like “virgin liberty”, convinces us of her pureness and how her steps are as free as a birds. “Not too bright or good” presents to us that she is just right for William Wordsworth, that her features are all equally decent.  The final stanza signifies Mary Hutchinson as a conscientious, elegant housewife in William’s eyes. Her form has solidified to be a real woman throughout the stanzas, her “reasons firm”. To William, she is described as the only being with “Endurance, foresight, strength and skill”. 

Research Content:

  William Wordsworth was born April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, to John and Anne (Cookson) Wordsworth, the second of their five children. He is famous for his capturing  style of romantic poems. His father was law agent and rent collector for Lord Lonsdale, and the family was fairly well off.

Wordsworth’s mother died when he was 7, and he was an orphan at 13. Despite these losses, he did well at Hawkshead Grammar School—where he wrote his first poetry—and went on to study at Cambridge University. He did not excel there, but managed to graduate in 1791.

He visited France in 1791 and fell in love with Annette Vallon, However, the declaration of war between England and France in 1793 separated the two. At this time, Annette was pregnant. Also on 1793, his very first publication of poems were published. These poems, featuring in “An evening Walk” as well as “Descriptive sketches”, earned William over 900 pounds, stating his career as an official poet.

In 1794 he reunited with his sister, Dorothy. She soon became his support, his companion, close friend as well as housekeeper.The next year he met Coleridge, and the three of them grew very close, the two men meeting daily in 1797-98 to talk about poetry and to plan Lyrical Ballads, which came out in 1798. These Lyrical Ballads helped grow the Romantic Era of English Literature.

In 1802, a temporary lull in fighting between England and France meant that Wordsworth was able to see Vallon and their daughter, Caroline. After returning to England, he wed Mary Hutchinson, who gave birth to the first of their five children in 1803. However in 1805 William’s Brother John died, then 2 children passed away on 1812. In 1813 the Wordsworth moved to a home in Grasmere called Rydal Mount, where William and Mary lived out their lives. By this time people were catching on to Wordsworth’s new school of poetry and he had serious fans. While Dora was his only surviving, he gained inspiration on writing a whole poem dedicated to her, titled “Addressed to my infant daughter” as well as “The Traids”.

In 1829, Dorothy Wordsworth came down with a serious illness that left her an increasingly senile invalid. Coleridge died in 1843. Later, on 1847, His beloved daughter Dora breathe her last, due to tuberculosis at her parents’ home. Wordsworth was devastated and seemed to lose his will to write after her death.

William Wordsworth breathe his last breath on April 23 1850, at the age of 80. He had pleurisy, an inflammation around the lining of the lungs.

After few months, his widow Mary published the poem to Coleridge, The Prelude.