Enrapture

A young man hears a live orchestra for the first time. The violins rise softly, then the cellos join, and suddenly the music swells into a wave of sound that fills the entire hall. He closes his eyes. His worries leave him. For those few minutes, he is completely lost in the beauty of the melody, carried away to another world. He does not just enjoy the music – it takes him out of himself. What does the music do to the young man? It enraptures him.

Enrapture means to fill someone with intense pleasure, joy, or delight, to the point of being carried away. Transport, by contrast, means to carry someone emotionally to another state or place, often through strong feeling, but not necessarily pleasurable. So, enrapture focuses on overwhelming, ecstatic happiness. Transport focuses on being moved or lifted emotionally, which could be by sadness, wonder, or excitement. In other words, a beautiful symphony enraptures you with pure joy; a tragic film transports you to a state of deep sorrow.