She Was a Phantom of Delight

“She Was a Phantom of Delight” is a short lyric poem by the English poet William Wordsworth. Often regarded as the greatest of the English Romantics, Wordsworth composed “Phantom” in 1804 and published it in his 1807 collection Poems, in Two Volumes. He wrote it in praise of his wife Mary (née Hutchinson), whom he first met in 1787 and married in 1802. The poem explores three stages of development in William and Mary’s relationship. Wordsworth particularly emphasizes Mary’s growth as a person and how his love for her blossoms as he comes to know her better. Despite the deeply personal nature of the poem, Mary is not named explicitly, so “Phantom” can also be read in a more general way as a heartfelt tribute by a man to a woman whom he has admired and loved over a period of many years. Wordsworth composed “Phantom” in a decade of heightened creativity (1797-1807), during which he wrote most of his greatest work.

Poet Biography

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the northwestern part of England known as the Lake District. He was the second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson Wordsworth. The family was well-off, but Wordsworth lost his parents at a young age: his mother passed away when he was eight and his father, when he was thirteen. In 1779, Wordsworth attended Hawkshead Grammar School, near Esthwaite Lake and Lake Windermere. The beauty of the Lake District made a deep impression on the young boy and would remain a lasting inspiration for his nature poetry. He left Hawkshead in 1787 and, in the fall of that year, entered St. John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1791. He then spent a year in France, where the ideals of the French Revolution (1789-1799) influenced his Romantic focus on the experience of the individual.

Wordsworth’s first published work was Descriptive Sketches (1793), a nature poem about a trip he had made a few years earlier to the Swiss Alps. Two years later, while living in the southwest county of Dorset, Wordsworth met fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The two men became friends; their creative collaboration led to the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. This collection of lyric poetry—written mostly by Wordsworth, with a few poems by Coleridge—is one of the seminal works of the English Romantic period. In 1800, a second edition was published with a preface from Wordsworth. In it, he explained why he had chosen to write about ordinary folk in simple language, a poetic subject and register which distinguished him from other eighteenth-century poets.

In 1799, Wordsworth and Dorothy, his sister and confidant, moved back to the Lake District, to the village of Grasmere. In 1802, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson. Mary had been a childhood friend of Dorothy; Wordsworth had first met her in 1787. They were to have five children, two of whom died in infancy. In 1807, Wordsworth published Poems, In Two Volumes, which included “She Was a Phantom of Delight.” Six years later, the Wordsworths moved a few miles east to Rydal Mount, Ambleside. There, Wordsworth was appointed distributor of stamps for Westmoreland, a job that entailed collecting revenue for the government.

Wordsworth had by this point achieved fame as a poet, and he would continue writing for several more decades. However, his later work showed a marked decline in quality. He also became steadily more conservative in his views as he aged. This contrasted greatly with the radically progressive beliefs he had embraced in his twenties and early thirties.

In 1843, Wordsworth was appointed England’s poet laureate. Seven years later, on April 23, 1850, Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount at the age of eighty. A final version of his frequently revised autobiographical poem, The Prelude: The Growth of a Poet’s Mind, was published posthumously in 1850.

Poem Text

She was a Phantom of delight 

When first she gleamed 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 way-lay.

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 planned, 

To warn, to comfort, and command; 

And yet a Spirit still, and bright 

With something of angelic light.

Wordsworth, William. “She Was a Phantom of Delight.” 1807. The Poetry Foundation.

Summary

The poem is divided into three stanzas of ten lines each. In the first stanza, the poet describes the first time he saw his subject: a beautiful woman. Delightful and “lovely” (Line 3), she seemed to have an unearthly quality. Her dark eyes, dark hair, and bright, fresh manner made him think of springtime (Lines 5-8). The woman’s pleasing form and liveliness made a lasting impression on the poet.

In the second stanza, the poet describes his observations of the same woman at a later date (though still in the past). He knew her better at this point. The woman possessed the same spiritual qualities he noted earlier, but has matured, embodying womanly qualities too. She moved around the house with grace; her face expressed the sweetness of her nature. In Line 17, the poet notes that although the woman had many wonderful qualities, she was not some otherworldly spirit, detached from the human realm. She experienced the range of emotions all humans share, including sorrow and distress, as well as positive experiences and acts such as “love, kisses, . . . and smiles” (Line 20).

In Stanza 3, years have passed: the narrative has reached the present day (“And now I see,” Line 21). The poet now presents the woman as thoroughly mature and capable. She responds to all demands placed upon her with skill, seriousness, determination, and grace. Even though she has proven herself to be practical and resilient, the poet still sees the spiritual dimension of her being, which has been apparent since the opening lines of the poem. She possesses an unmistakable radiance.