Phantasmagoria and Other Poems

Narrator of “The Trystyng”

An unnamed man of forty-two who comes home to find a Phantom in his house and speaks with him.

The Phantom

Also known as Ghost · Bones · Old Brick · Old Parallelepiped

A nervous but outspoken Phantom who visits the narrator, explains ghostly customs, and mistakes his house for another man’s. He is the son of a Brownie and a Fairy.

The previous Spectre

The Spectre who welcomed the narrator when he moved into the house, then left on the Third.

The King

Also known as Goblin King

The ruler of the ghosts, whose rules govern their conduct. He knights the Knight-Mayor.

Inspector Kobold

Also known as Inn-Spectre

A Spectre inspector who assesses houses for ghosts; he is known for wearing a yellow gown, crimson vest, and night-cap, and for frequenting inns in search of port-wine.

The Phantom’s father

Also known as Brownie

The Phantom’s father, who was a Brownie.

The Phantom’s mother

Also known as Fairy

The Phantom’s mother, who was a Fairy and arranged for her children to be taught in different supernatural forms.

The Phantom’s siblings

The Phantom’s unnamed siblings, who were raised as various beings, including a Pixy, Fays, a Banshee, a Fetch, a Kelpie, a Poltergeist, a Ghoul, Trolls, a Goblin, a Double, an Elf, and a Leprechaun.

The older Phantom

An unnamed, older Phantom who took the young Phantom out on his first haunting and taught him tricks.

The Knight-Mayor

Also known as Mayor and Corporation

A very fat supernatural official who sits on people who eat too much at night, pinching and squeezing them. The King made him a knight after he ran to report his election as Mayor.

Tibbets

Also known as Tibbs · Old Turnip-top

The unnamed poem narrator, whose proper name is Tibbets. The Phantom mistakes him for a man named Tibbs and visits the wrong house.

Tibbs

The man the Phantom intended to visit; he is not the narrator Tibbets.

Lady Clara Vere de Vere

A girl described in the poem “Echoes”; she says she is eight years old.

Narrator of “Echoes”

An unnamed speaker who addresses Lady Clara Vere de Vere.

The Inspector in “Echoes”

An unnamed inspector standing at a girl’s door, described as looking for boys who cannot do simple arithmetic.

The sea

A personified presence in “A Sea Dirge,” which the speaker depicts as unpleasant and exhausting.

Hiawatha

The photographer in “Hiawatha’s Photographing,” who attempts to take portraits of a family and leaves in frustration after they condemn the results.

The Governor

Also known as the Father

The father of the family Hiawatha photographs; he proposes a grand portrait pose but moves during the exposure.

The Governor’s wife

Also known as the lady · his better half

The Governor’s wife, who poses in elaborate dress with a large bouquet, talks throughout the sitting, and gets a failed portrait.

The Stunning-Cantab

Also known as the Son

The family’s son, who suggests an artistic pose and draws on ideas he has learned from Ruskin.

The eldest daughter

The family’s eldest daughter, who asks to be photographed with her idea of “passive beauty.”

The youngest son

Also known as Johnny · Daddy’s Darling · Jacky · Scrubby School-boy

The family’s youngest son, a fidgety boy with rough hair and a dusty jacket, whom his sisters tease with names he dislikes.

The other sisters

The unnamed sisters who take turns being photographed after the eldest daughter; their individual identities are not specified.

The speaker in “Melancholetta”

Also known as the brother

An unnamed man whose sister’s constant sorrow makes their home miserable; he tries outings and company to cheer her.

The sister in “Melancholetta”

Also known as the dismal sister

The speaker’s melancholy sister, who turns cheerful remarks and social occasions into occasions for lament.

Jones

Also known as the lively Jones · J. Jones, Esquire

A lively young man invited to dinner with the speaker and his sister in “Melancholetta.” In “Size and Tears,” J. Jones is the speaker’s thin rival who teases him about being stout.

Brown

Also known as the sportive Brown

A young man invited to dinner with the speaker and his sister in “Melancholetta.” In “Size and Tears,” Brown is the stout speaker, whom Jones teases.

Robinson

Also known as the jolly Robinson

A young man invited to dinner with the speaker and his sister in “Melancholetta.”

The friend in “A Valentine”

An unnamed friend to whom the poem is addressed; he had complained that the speaker did not seem to miss him when he was away.

The man in “The Three Voices”

An unnamed man whose conversation with a woman is presented in three parts; he is mocked for his appetite and puns, overwhelmed by her talk, and later tormented by his own thoughts.

The woman in “The Three Voices”

An unnamed woman who dominates the conversation in the first two parts with scornful arguments and difficult, relentless speech.

The inner voice

Also known as the whisper

A voice within the man’s head in the third part, which questions his account and suggests that the woman’s fate was intertwined with his.

The thirteen dinner guests

Unnamed people imagined by the man in “The Second Voice,” sitting silently in a drawing-room after their brains have been exhausted by the woman’s talk.

The speaker in “Tèma Con Variaziòni”

An unnamed speaker who presents a comic variation on a familiar love poem.

The son in “Tèma Con Variaziòni”

The speaker’s son, who comes home from school after a fight and is described as foolish.

The Belle in “Tèma Con Variaziòni”

An unnamed woman whom the speaker tries to impress by staining his hair.

The girls in “A Game of Fives”

Five unnamed girls followed through successive ages, from childhood to adulthood.

The quondam careless bachelor

An unnamed former bachelor who reflects on the cost of supporting a household of five women.

The young aspiring poet

Also known as the grandson

A young man who asks his grandfather how to become a poet and rushes off to write after receiving advice.

The old man

Also known as the grandfather

The aspiring poet’s grandfather, who gives him satirical instructions for writing poetry and advises him to see “Colleen Bawn” for an example of sensation.

Boucicault

A person mentioned by the grandfather as the originator of the theory of “Sensation.”

Jones in “Size and Tears”

Also known as J. Jones, Esquire · the odious rival

A thin rival who repeatedly finds and mocks the stout speaker, and is praised by women for his slim appearance.

Atalanta

A woman whom the speaker recalls courting in Camden-Town; she eventually rejects his assumptions about her feelings.

The speaker in “Atalanta in Camden-Town”

An unnamed man who mistakes Atalanta’s gestures for signs that she loves him.

The ladye in “The Lang Coortin’”

Also known as the fair ladye · the high-born maid

A woman courted for many years by a lover who returns after a long absence and finally asks her to marry him. She prefers her dog and tells him to wait longer.

The lover in “The Lang Coortin’”

A man who courts the ladye for decades through gestures, gifts, and letters, then returns from abroad to propose.

The popinjay

The ladye’s talking bird, who advises the lover to enter and later mocks his drawn-out courtship.

The doggie

The ladye’s small dog, which wears a chain made from the lover’s gifted rings and barks at him.

The prince of button-boys

Also known as the boy in buttons

A servant who draws the lot to enter the parlour and stop the commotion; he distracts the dog with a mutton bone.

The serving-men and serving-maids

The household servants who hear the noise from the parlour and cast lots to decide who will go in.

Miss Ellen Terry

An actress mentioned in the note to “Four Riddles”; the poem’s second riddle was written after seeing her perform in “Hamlet.”

Miss Marion Terry

An actress mentioned in the note to “Four Riddles”; the poem’s third riddle was written after seeing her perform in “Pygmalion and Galatea.”

Uncle

An unnamed uncle asked the time in the first riddle; he responds gravely but gives no clear answer.