"She Was a Phantom of Delight"
She was a Phantom of delightWhen first she gleamed upon my sight;A lovely Apparition, sentTo 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 drawnFrom 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 meetSweet records, promises as sweet;A Creature not too bright or goodFor human nature's daily food;For transient sorrows, simple wiles,Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.
And now I see with eye sereneThe 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 brightWith something of angelic light.
Words in this poem
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"She Was a Phantom of Delight" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 3 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12383; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, "She Was a Phantom of Delight", in The Prelude, and Other Poems (1802–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12383, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol3/she-was-a-phantom-of-delight.html, id L17403.
Form and metre
"She Was a Phantom of Delight" is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDDEE. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEE delightA · sightA · sentB · ornamentB · fairC · hairC · drawnD · dawnD · gayE · layE
- 2 AABBCCDDEE viewA · tooA · freeB · libertyB · meetC · sweetC · goodD · foodD · wilesE · smilesE
- 3 AABBCCDDEE sereneA · machineA · breathB · deathB · willC · skillC · plannedD · commandD · brightE · lightE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She was a Phantom of delight | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When first she gleamed upon my sight; | 8 | ········ |
| A lovely Apparition, sent | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To be a moment's ornament; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Her eyes as stars of Twilight fair; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Like Twilight's, too, her dusky hair; | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| But all things else about her drawn | 8 | ········ |
| From May-time and the cheerful Dawn; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A dancing Shape, an Image gay, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To haunt, to startle, and way-lay. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I saw her upon nearer view, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A Spirit, yet a Woman too! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Her household motions light and free, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| And steps of virgin-liberty; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| A countenance in which did meet | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Sweet records, promises as sweet; | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| A Creature not too bright or good | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For human nature's daily food; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| For transient sorrows, simple wiles, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And now I see with eye serene | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The very pulse of the machine; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| A Being breathing thoughtful breath, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| A Traveller between life and death; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The reason firm, the temperate will, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill; | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| A perfect Woman, nobly planned, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| To warn, to comfort, and command; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And yet a Spirit still, and bright | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With something of angelic light. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
On this poem
Written at Town-end, Grasmere. The germ of this poem was four lines composed as a part of the verses on the 'Highland Girl'. Though beginning in this way, it was written from my heart, as is sufficiently obvious.
Notes from the edition 5
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 3 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12383): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem/book; Book First of The Prelude runs past Z into lowercase a, b, c...).
- Stanza 1, line 2 Compare two references to Mary Wordsworth in 'The Prelude': 'Another maid there was, who also shed A gladness o'er that season, then to me, By her exulting outside look of youth And placid under-countenance, first endeared;' (Book vi. l. 224). 'She came, no more a phantom to adorn A moment, but an inmate of the heart, And yet a spirit, there for me enshrined To penetrate the lofty and the low;' (Book xiv, l. 268).--Ed.
- Stanza 1, line 8 1807. From May-time's brightest, liveliest dawn; 1836 The text of 1840 returns to that of 1807.
- Stanza 3, line 4 1832. ... betwixt ... 1807.
- Stanza 3, line 7 1815. A perfect Woman; ... 1807.
- Stanza 3, line 10 1845. ... of an angel light. 1807. ... angel-light. 1836.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.