Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
Daffodils
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;
Beside 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 a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
* Ready?
* First impression: The poem is extremely euphonic and uses quite a bit of pleasant imagery. When spoken, it rolls off the tongue naturally. This reinforces the poem's joyful tone which proceeds through out the poem except for momentarily in the fourth stanza where the first two lines are cacophonic. The poem deals with an extended figure which may be considered an apostrophe.
* Structure: The poem is in a stanzaic form of four stanzas of six lines each. The rhyming scheme alternates at first, ABAB, but ends in a rhyming couplet CC which adds to the euphony of the poem and the ease at which it's spoken. The lines are in iambic tetrameter.
* Note: Meter can be found by counting the syllables in each line and simply dividing them by two. If this is the same for each line, then the poem is written in a specific meter.
* Speaker: The speaker is obviously the poet himself. By sharing his own first experiences with such a crowd of daffodils the reader gains the same first impressions.
* Literal Meaning: The poet recalls his first experience of seeing such a wondrous crowd of daffodils beside a bay. The blowing wind moves them in an awesome formation, a spectacle of nature of which the poet remembers in order to lift his spirits.
* Figurative Meaning: Everyone has had their good experiences in life. Perhaps it's the sensation of getting a new dog or seeing a beautiful bird take flight. It's important for us to remember those experiences, in times when we are down.
* Imagery: Lots of visual imagery
* "Golden daffodils" (4)
* "Sparkling waves" (14)
* "stars that shine / and twinkle on the milky way" (7-8)
* Kinesthetic imagery
* "Fluttering and dancing in the breeze" (6)
* "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (12)
* "The waves beside them danced" (13)
* Metaphors and Similes
* "I wandered lonely as a cloud" (1)
* "Continuous as the stars" (7)
* Personification of the Daffodils
* I saw a crowd / a host, of golden daffodils (3-4)
* Tossing their heads in sprightly dance (12)
* In such a jocund company (16)
* Assonance
* A host of golden daffodils (3)
* Beside the lake, beneath the trees (6)
* For oft when on my couch (19)
* heart with pleasures fills (23)
* Alliteration
* Beside... beneath... breeze (5-6)
* stars...stretch...shine (7-8)
* glee...gay...gazed...gazed (13-15)
* Repetition:
* Dance (6), (12), (13), (24)
* Gazed (15)
* Wildcard: Importance of the Speaker
* The speaker shows a great tranquility and appreciation of nature. The juxtaposition of the first two lines of the last paragraph with the rest of the poem and the use of the word "couch" suggest unhappiness with the material surroundings.
* Great! Now that we've written down the basic aspects of the poem- it's time for us to connect their meanings and effects!
The Commentary
"The Daffodils" by William Wordsworth describes the poet's site of a spectacular field of daffodils situated by a bay. He uses worldly imagery to magnify such a small feat of nature in an attempt to demonstrate how both nature and memories are important in dealing with many of the woes of a modern society. The personified daffodils are the center of the poem which is written in a stanzaic form with a consistent rhyming scheme. Through the use of literary devices and intensive visual and kinesthetic imagery, the reader is able to adopt the same feeling of awe at this simplistic spectacle as once felt by the poet.
The poem is written in stanzaic form of four stanzas each consisting of six lines with each line written in iambic tetrameter. For the first four lines of each stanza, the rhyming scheme alternates as ABAB, but ends with a rhyming couplet. This stanzaic form serves to reinforce the poem's euphony, with the ending the consistent rhyming scheme serving to ensure that the poem progresses smoothly. Indeed, the structure of the poem may even serve to reflect the extended figure of the poem, for like the daffodils, we too are entranced by the product of its general simplicity. The poem is told through the eyes of the poet himself.
The poem describes in detail, a simplistic wonder of nature, a "crowd /, a host, of golden daffodils" (3-4) situated "along the margin of a bay" (10). The daffodils "dance" (6) and though not mentioned directly, this dance is most likely caused by the wind. The poet is amazed at two things, the sheer number of daffodils, comparing their numbers to the number of stars in the "the milky way" (7) and the intricate dance that they produce. He then states that the waves of the lake also danced, most likely ripples once again caused by the wind, but the effect the wind had on the flowers "Out-did the sparkling waves in glee"(13). The sight was so beautiful that the poet "gazed and gazed" (17), clueless of the "wealth" (18) gained from the experience. From then on, when the Poet is in a "vacant mood" (20), he recalls this experience in his mind and his "heart [fills] with pleasures" (23) as he too "dances with the daffodils" (24).
(Note: this commentary isn't the best example... the use of the quotes at the end is exactly what IB doesn't want.)