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, 5
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 a bay; 10
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought 5
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; 10
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
1. Have you ever seen a daffodil? If not, find out
all you can about the color, time of blooming, etc.
of this flower. Remember that the scene of the poem
is the north of England.
2. Put briefly into your own words the experience,
as told in the first three stanzas, and its result,
as told in the last stanza. At what time of year
did the incident occur? Was the day fair or cloudy?
Why did the flowers show up so well against the
lake as a background? What change took place in the
poet's state of mind while he looked at the
flowers? What was the wealth that the sight brought
him?
3. Wordsworth's purpose in poetry was "awakening
the mind's attention . . . by directing it to the
loveliness and wonders of the world before us." His
best poetry is about things out of doors and their
influence on people's minds. You may like to read
"Fidelity," "To the Cuckoo," "The Solitary Reaper,"
"The Reverie of Poor Susan," and others that you
find for yourself.
4. Wordsworth was born in 1770, at Cockermouth,
England, and was educated at Cambridge University.
He gave all his time to writing poetry and lived an
uneventful life, surrounded by his family and
friends, in the beautiful Lake District, in the
North of England, which he describes in his poems.
From 1843 till his death in 1850 he was Poet
Laureate of England.