She

The speaker describes a woman who has a powerful, changing effect on his life. At first, she seems capable of bringing pleasure or regret, comfort or pain. As the song develops, his attention shifts from her mystery and emotional contrasts to his deep commitment: he wants to share both her laughter and her tears, and to stay beside her through difficult times.

Several images show how many sides he sees in her. She can be “the beauty or the beast,” or “the famine or the feast”: opposite possibilities that suggest she may bring either joy or hardship. Her eyes are “private,” meaning that she keeps some feelings to herself, even when she appears happy among other people. The “mirror” and “smile reflected in a stream” suggest that what he sees in her may partly be shaped by his own dreams, and may not reveal her whole inner self.

The song is intensely devoted, but it also leaves room for uncertainty. The woman “may not be what she may seem,” and the speaker imagines that she could be a love that cannot last. His final claim that she is the meaning of his life may express sincere commitment, idealization, or both. The lyrics do not tell us how well he truly knows her; they present her through the speaker’s powerful feelings.