c poet William Wordsworth around 1804. This 24-line lyric was first published in 1807 in Poems, in Two Volumes, though he subsequently revised it—the final and most familiar version of the poem was published in 1815.
The poem was inspired by his sister Dorothy Wordsworth's diary entry in which she mentioned a walk she took with her brother William Wordsworth around Glencoyne Bay in the Lake District.
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a quintessentially Romantic poem with key ideas about imagination, humanity, and the natural world.
Structure of Daffodils:
The poem is written from the first-person point of view and the speaker is Wordsworth himself. It is composed of four stanzas of six lines each (sestets). The poem follows a quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme of ABABCC. The consistent rhyming scheme helps invoke the imagery beautifully. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with eight syllables per line, and the stress falls on the second syllable of each foot. Consonance and Alliteration have been used to help the rhyming scheme. In addition, Simile, Hyperbole, Allusion, Allegory, Personification, and Anthropomorphism have been used. The tone of the poem is emotive, hyperbolic, expressive, and thoughtful.
Summary of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-6
“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;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
In the first stanza, the speaker describes a time in the past when he meandered down the hills and valley when he stumbled upon a beautiful field of daffodils. The speaker is mesmerized by the daffodils seemingly waving, fluttering, and dancing along the waterside.
Metaphorically comparing himself to a cloud in the first line, the speaker signifies his close identification with the nature that surrounds him. He also demonstrates this connection by personifying the daffodils several times, even calling them a "crowd" as if they were a group of people. Although yellow would be more suitable for daffodils, the poet intends to signify its beauty by using golden color, and hence mentions ‘golden daffodils.’
The idea is to remember the beauty of nature even when not in its presence.
Stanza 2 Lines 7-12
“Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. ”
In the second stanza, the speaker goes into more detail about the daffodils. They reminded him of the Milky Way (Allegory) because there were so many flowers packed together that they seemed never-ending. The speaker makes an Allusion to the Milky Way to suggest the infinite expanse of natural beauty. Along the Milky Way’s premises lie countless stars, which the poet alludes to daffodils fluttering beside the lake. The speaker guesses that there were ten thousand daffodils, which were "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance". Sprightly refers to sprite, which means little fairies or happy energetic spirits, and ‘dance’ suggests anthropomorphism.
Stanza 3 Lines 13-18
“The waves beside 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:”
In the third stanza, the speaker compares the waves of the lake to the waves of daffodils and decides that even though the lake is "sparkling," the daffodils win because they have more "glee." He then comments that he, like any other poet, could not help but be happy "in such a jocund company." He looked at the scene for a long time, but while he was there he was unable to understand what he had gained from the experience:
The speaker enjoyed the ‘sprightly dance’ of ‘golden daffodils’ so much that he felt the sparkling waves of a lake beside them were no match to the beauty of the daffodils. The sparkling sunlight on the lake’s water is contrasted with the dance of daffodils. Observing the scene, and being in the cheerful company of ‘golden daffodils’, the poet became so gay (happy) that he couldn’t move. Gay means highly happy, and Jocund means cheerful and light-hearted. The poet used repetition of the word ‘gazed’ in line 17 to suggest his mesmerized state of mind.
Stanza 4 Lines 19-24
“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.”
The last stanza clarifies the idea or theme of the poem. While the poet was there beside the lake, amongst the ‘golden daffodils’, he couldn't understand what he had gained from the experience. But now when he remembers the beautiful memory, the poet describes what he gained from the experience. Afterward, when he was lonely or feeling "pensive," he could remember the daffodils, seeing them with his "inward eye," and be content. Even though the speaker is unable to appreciate the memory he is creating as he stands in the field, he later realizes the worth that it takes on in sad and lonely moments. Wordsworth compares the daffodils to the “bliss” of his solitary moments. Whenever he remembers those moments, his heart fills with immense pleasure offered by natural beauty.
The themes of the poem are natural beauty, memory, and spirituality. The poet moves through a beautiful landscape in his memories. He takes pleasure in the sight of the daffodils and revives his spirit in nature.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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