Fat Ninja

I’ve long held William Wordsworth to be my own “poet laureate”, if you will. His work has long been an inspiration to me, though his brilliance is well outside of my grasp. Of late I’ve been struggling with some serious writer’s block. In lieu of this, I have been hard-pressed to write a Valentine’s Day poem for Laura. All of my efforts on that account have met with failure. As such, I have decided to leave the task in the capable hands of Mr. William Wordsworth and his piece, She Was a Phantom of Delight:

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.
~

William Wordsworth, 1804

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