Wordsworth's Romanticism is evident in nearly everything
he wrote. "Perfect Woman" is no exception. Consider the opening lines of the
poem:
She was
a phantom of delight
When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A
lovely apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
In these opening lines, a
couple of Romanticist tenets are evident. The belief in the supernatural and a
"negative capability" of a world that lies beyond the sensory realm is evident in the
idea of a "phantom of delight" and "lovely apparition." The second line brings to light
the subjective experience that was such a strong part of Romantic thought. The
placement of the personal experience as the defining element to construct reality was of
vital importance to the Romantic thinkers who sought to personalize the expression of
the world. The ability to draw the parallel between love and subjective experience
being both a part of this world and existing outside of it is another Romantic
configuration of time where rational temporality is suspended in favor of the personal
experience that configures time much differently. The last stanza brings this out in
using the present tense in the first line ("And now I see with eye serene") and the
closing sentiment, "something of angelic light." In this idea, the subjective
experience that is such a part of Romanticism is
evident.
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