The Daffodils by William Wordsworth
The Daffodils
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;
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.
About William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth, one of the major figures and founders of English Romanticism, was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland in Southwestern England 0n 7 April 1770. He was a poet who was concerned with human relationship with nature. He was worshiper of nature, indicating spiritual and epistemological speculation. Nature was alive for him. He was fierce advocate of using the language of day today use in poetry. Poetry was spontaneous flow of emotions for him.
He attended Hawkshead Grammar School and St. Johns College in Cambridge. He went on a tour to Europe, He came into contact with French Revolution which made him a great advocate of Democracy. He had been writing poems since his childhood. He married Mary Hutchinson, his childhood friend, and had five children out which three survived. His meeting with Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a turning point of his career. With him, he published Lyrical Ballads. His famous work The Prelude is said to be crowning achievement of his career but it was published posthumously after his death at Rydal Mount on April 23, 1850.
Summary of the poem "I wandered lonely as a Cloud."
Wordsworth presents a very vivid and picturesque imagery of golden daffodils alongside the bank of a lake. This poem is one of the finest samples of the poem which display that he communicated with Nature and he was a worshiper of Nature. He comes across thousands of golden daffodils beside a lake suddenly while he was wandering alone aimlessly. the poem is full of similes, metaphors and personification. His sudden encounter with the daffodils makes him elated. The daffodils that stretched along the margin of the bay, appear like the stars twinkling in the Milky Way. The waves too were dancing with the daffodils but the daffodils outperformed the waves. The daffodils are personified here as dancing and fluttering and considered a jocund company. A person cannot help himself being happy in such a jocund company. The poet had never imagined that the show of daffodils had handed over to him such a big treasure of lifetime because whenever the poet was alone and lying in his couch and had no thoughts in his mind or he was not is a happy mood, the daffodils would flash upon his mind and his heart would begin to dance with them. The daffodils proved to be a bliss in solitude for him.
Multiple Choice Type Questions
Short Answer Questions
How and where did the poet encounter daffodils?
Answer: The poet came across the daffodils beside a lake when he was wandering aimlessly like a cloud.
Whom does the poet compare the daffodils?
Answer: The poet compares the daffodils with the stars in the Milky Way in the sky.
Why does the poet call the daffodils a jocund company?
Answer: The poet call the daffodils a jocund company because a person cant help himself being happy in the their company.
When does the poet remember the daffodils?
Answer: The poet remembers the daffodils when he is alone and in a pensive mood.
Why does the poet call the daffodils bliss of solitude?
Answer: The poet calls the daffodils bliss of solitude because their memory makes the poet happy in loneliness.
What happens when the poet is reminded of the daffodils?
Answer: When the poet is reminded of the daffodils his spirit is filled with happiness at the memory of the dance of the daffodils>
Whom do the daffodils outdo?
Answer: The daffodils outdo the waves of the lake in the dancing.
Mention the poetic devices used in the poem Daffodils.
Answer: The poet has used several poetic devices in the poem as given below:-
Rhyme scheme:- ababcc is the rhyme scheme that is maintained ian all the stanzas.
Similes:- as a cloud, continuous as the stars in the Milky Way, in a never ending line.
Personification:- Fluttering and dancing in the breeze, Tossing their heads in the sprightly dance, The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee, In such a jocund company, And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.
Alliteration:- lonely as a cloud “L” with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. “S”
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