Basil is recalling the early days after meeting Dorian, trying to name what changed inside him. The phrase “subtle influence” frames love/admiration as a quiet current rather than a thunderclap, which fits Basil’s gentle temperament. Wilde’s imagery turns a simple scene—“plain woodland”—into a place of revelation, showing how perception shifts before conduct does. The line blends art and feeling: Dorian doesn’t just inspire a subject; he re-tunes Basil’s eye, letting him see “wonder” in the ordinary, the first task of any artist. That shift feels hopeful because it suggests renewal—beauty returns to a life that had been technically skilled but emotionally dulled. Yet the wording also hints at risk: an “influence” that can pass into one’s “whole” sensibility can also swallow it, foreshadowing Basil’s later dependence. The device is chiefly Imagery (woodland, wonder), with a light Metaphor of influence as a transferable substance; together they generate a tender, uplifted mood. Universally, the moment captures how a person can re-enchant the everyday—how, under the right gaze, the familiar becomes luminous again.