The poet has presented the wonders of a woman’s body in a frolic and frivolous tone through this poem. “When she moved, she moved more ways than one” is to present the gorgeous beauty of the woman’s body through her movements. With a tone of wistful wanting and amusement the poet takes the reader to a man’s experience in the splendor of vision as well as makes him experience the joy and the pain that comes with loving, aging and wanting.
Roethke describes the intimate picture of the woman that he loves and admires in many ways and in a reflective tone also describes her as “lovely in her bones”. He has compared her virtues with a goddess by using the phrase “of whom only God could speak”.
The dual meanings underlying the poem are the foundation and help to weave the rest of the poem very beautifully. A woman’s beauty is more than skin deep and is fundamental of what she is inside.