Delia

Delia - meaning Summary

Praising an Idealized Beloved

This short lyric presents a speaker who idolizes a woman named Delia by comparing her to pleasing elements of nature. Throughout the poem he insists that dawn, songbirds, bees, and flowing water are lovely, but that Delia surpasses them all. The tone moves from admiration to urgent desire as the speaker shifts from praising her beauty to pleading for a kiss. The poem frames romantic longing as both aesthetic appreciation and physical craving, emphasizing the speaker’s conviction that Delia embodies and exceeds nature’s sweetest pleasures.