I
Wandered Lonely As a Cloud
BY
William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils
Besides the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way
They stretched in never ending line
Along the margin of Bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
The waves besides them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude?
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
SUMMARY
This lyric poem “Daffodils” of William Wordsworth
wonderfully describes the beauty of nature and its lasting impact on humans. We
have moments, and scenes in life that present attribute to nature while
manifesting our memories with glory. The nature has enduring impact on human’s
life and fills their heart with joy at the time of sadness. In this poem, the
poet captures both the images and feelings concerned to a special moment in his
life. Nature’s pure scenes contest each other to display and drop a line to
human’s feelings.
FIGURES OF SPEECH/LITERARY DEVICES
Stanza:
In this poem,
there are four stanzas with six lines in each stanza.
Theme:
Nature; the impact of nature on a human
Central
idea:
The images of
nature are so powerful that replays in our mind to fill our heart with joy and
peace.
Rhyming
scheme:
ABABCC rhyme
scheme
The first line rhymes with the third, and the second
line rhymes with the fourth lines respectively.
Iambic
Tetrameter:
There are four feet per line, or each unstressed
syllable is followed by a stressed syllable as in the first line of this poem
such as “I wandered lone-ly as a ”.
Parallelism:
It is the use of components in a sentence that
is similar in their construction, sound, or meaning.
Example: “beside
the lake, beneath the trees.”
Simile:
1.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
2. Continuous
as the stars that shine
Alliteration:
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sound at
the beginning or in stressed syllables of nearby words.
1. Beside
the lake, beneath the trees,
2. And
dances with the daffodils
The repetition of the
sounds ‘b’ and‘d’ in above lines are examples of alliteration.
Imagery:
Visual
Fields, daffodils, lakes, trees, stars.
Hyperbole:
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement.
1. When
all at once I saw a crowd,
2. Ten
thousand saw I at a glance,
3. They
stretched in never-ending line
Personification
The poet has ascribed human characteristics to the
daffodils (non-human objects) in this poem and this is an example of
personification.
1. Fluttering
and dancing in the breeze
2. Tossing
their heads in sprightly dance
3. Out-did
the sparkling waves in glee
4. The
waves beside them danced
Wordsworth has
personified the waves in the above line.
Tone:
Soft
GLOSSARY
Fluttering moving in the air
Glee joy
Host in large number
Jocund happy
Twinkle shine with a light that keeps
twittering
Pensive thoughtful
Solitude Pleasant loneliness
O’er
(old English) Over
ABOUT THE POET
William Wordsworth was born at Cockermouth in
Cumberland, England on 7th April, 1770. His passion for Nature is well known.
He is also referred to as poet of nature. He has been a student of literature,
classics and Mathematics during his Grammar school and college days. In 1798, he
became noticeable for “Lyrical Ballads”. It was a joint poetic venture of
William Word worth and Samuel Taylor. In 1807 Wordsworth published his “Poems
in two volumes” to mark his individuality. The journey of his work continued
where much a reflection of events & experiences of his life. William
Wordsworth work has been studied and analyzed widely. He died April 23, 1850.
Some of William Wordsworth notable work:
•
To the Cuckoo
•
Lucy Grey
•
The World is too much with us
•
The two April mornings
•
It is a beauteous evening
•
Solitary Reaper
•
We are seven
•
The Prelude
QUESTION ANSWERS
Q.
What is the message of poem Daffodils?
Ans. The nature is full of amazing sights. Human’s
can get off their sorrows by replaying the beautiful images of nature in their
minds.
Q.
How do you compare the daffodils with the stars?
Ans. The poet describes comparison about the
daffodils that the row of daffodils look likes the endless row of shining
stars. The poet imagines the daffodils shining like stars in the sky.
Q.
How does the poet feel in the company of
daffodils?
Ans. He feels very happy and blessed.
Q.
Describe various aspects of nature described in the poem?
In this poem, poets tell about beautiful daffodils.
Whenever the poet is laying in the vacant and thoughtful mood, the beautiful
sight appears before him. It fills his heart with joy and begins to dance with
flowers.
Q.
What “Wealth” do memories of the scene give to the poet?
Ans. Wealth of joy and peace, that scene brought to
him.
Q.
List the words that heighten the sound effect in the poem?
Ans. Vales and hills, Cloud and crowd, Trees and
breeze, Jocund company etc.
PARAPHRASING
STANZA
# 1
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils
Besides the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Paraphrasing:
In this
stanza, the poet describes that one day he was wandering all alone, just like a
cloud that floats over the valleys and hills. There he saw a crowd of golden
daffodils. A lake was hosting these golden daffodils beneath the trees. The
daffodils were fluttering and dancing.
STANZA
# 2
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way
They stretched in never ending line
Along the margin of Bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
Paraphrasing:
They were continuous in a row like the stars twinkle
on the milky way. They were stretched in never ending line on the margin of
bay. I saw ten thousand at a glance that were tossing their heads while dancing
sprightly.
STANZA
# 3
Paraphrasing:
The waves of the lake were also dancing happily but the
daffodils outdid the sparkling waves. A poet is happy in the company of daffodils
that he keeps on gazing golden flowers. This sight brought him a great wealth.
STANZA
#4
Paraphrasing:
Often when I lie on my couch, with vacant or sad
mood, daffodils flash upon with bliss of solitude. My heart fills with pleasure
and start dancing with daffodils.