Amberdine Sung Delilah Bai Joey Hsu

Tony Huang Wesley Wu

Yvonne Chou

Analysis of “I Wander Lonely As A Cloud”

Analysis of “My Heart Leaps Up”

Background and Culture Introduction

Discussion

Multi-media Performance

Conclusion

Joey Hsu

Recitation of the poem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpwdlkN-UNk&feature=related

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.

http://www.elementaryworkshop.org/Students/Daffodils/Daffodilprojectindex.html

Theme: The elevation of the soul by the speaker’s appreciation of sublime nature

Speaker: Wordsworth, William

Listener: The general public

Tone: joyful, vivid, positive, passionate, laid-back

Image source: http://speakin-colors.blogspot.tw/2009/11/leeks-daffodils-on-st-davids-day.html

Rhymed stanza in iambic tetrameter :

Stanza 1

• Cloud/ hills/ crowd/ daffodils/ trees/ breeze

• A, b, a, b, c, c

Stanza 2

• Shine/ way/ line/ bay/ glance/ dance

• D, e, d, e, f, f

Stanza 3

• They/ glee/ gay/ company/ thought/ brought

• E, g, e, g, h, h

Stanza 4

• Lie/ mood/ eye/ solitude/ fills/ daffodils

• D, i, d, i, b, b

Stanza 1

• Embark on the journey to appreciate the nature—daffodils

• Mood: Lonely as a cloud

Stanza 2

• Beauty of daffodils: stars

• Quantities of daffodils: never-ending line

Stanza 3

• Waves as a foil to daffodils: Out-did the sparkling waves in glee

• Mood: In such a jocund company

Stanza 4

• Shows the great impact of intense, specific and pleasant feeling on the speaker—gained from the nature—daffodils

Diction

Golden daffodils

Fluttering & dancing

Glee, gay,

jocund, pleasure

Never-ending

line Breeze

Pensive vs.

pleasure

Crowd

vs. Solitude

•Inward eye = my pure heart

•The bliss of solitude = hope and light

Metaphor

• I wandered lonely as a cloud

• Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way

Simile

Syntax: reversed sentence structure

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,

WHY??

Yvonne Chou

My Heart Leaps Up, also known as The Rainbow, is a poem by the British Romantic Poet William Wordsworth. Noted for its simplicity of structure and language, it describes the joy that he feels when he sees a rainbow and notes that he has felt this way since his childhood. He concludes the poem by noting how his childhood has shaped his current views and stating that "the child is father of the man". Written on March 26, 1802 and published in 1807 as an epigraph to "Ode: Intimations of Immortality“; Wordsworth was in Dove Cottage, Grasmere with his wife, Mary. After he wrote it he often thought about altering it, but decided to leave it as it was originally written. It was published as part of Poems in Two Volumes in 1807. (Source: http://www.gradesaver.com/wordsworths-poetical-works/study-guide/section8/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart_Leaps_Up)

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is the father of the Man;

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

Poet’s emotion

Time order

Moved by

nature

Hope of

countinuity

Bond to

nature

Some commentators have speculated that Wordsworth felt such joy because the rainbow indicates the constancy of his connection to nature throughout his life. Others have said that it celebrates "the continuity in Wordsworth's consciousness of self". Many commentators also draw parallels to the rainbow of Noah and the covenant that it symbolised. Wordsworth's use of the phrase "bound each to each" in the poem also implies the presence of a covenant. Some commentators have drawn further parallels with the story of Noah. Harold Bloom has suggested that Wordsworth casts the rainbow as a symbol of the survival of his poetic gift, just as the rainbow symbolised to Noah the survival of mankind. Bloom suggests that Wordsworth's poetic gift relied on his ability to recall the memories of his joy as a child. (Source: http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/my-heart-leaps-p-when-i-behold.html )

11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. (Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9%3A1-17&version=NIV )

Wesley Wu

A major English Romantic poet.

Cooperated with Samuel Taylor Coleridge to help launch the Romantic Age in Eng lit.

Notable works: Lyrical Ballads (1798), Poems, in Two Volumes (1807), The Prelude (1850).

Image source: Wikipedia

Samuel Taylor Coleridge A Lake Poet whom Wordsworth “relied chiefly for philosophical guidance.”

Dorothy Wordsworth “William relied on his sister's detailed accounts of nature scenes when writing poems and borrowed freely from her journals.”

John “Walking” Stewart A mysterious traveler who wrote The Apocalypse of Nature (1791).

Image source: Wikipedia

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes.

A mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday

Famous not only for its lakes, forests and mountains

Wordsworth’s long time residence

I Wander Lonely as a Cloud and Guide to the Lakes.

The Lake Poets:

William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey.

Image source: Wikipedia

College period – walking tour: “… often spend later holidays on walking tours, visiting places famous for beauty of their landscape (p.36).”

Tour in Europe – France: “… became enthralled with the Republican movement.”

– Germany: homesickness and loneliness which led to writing “Lucy Poems.” (revolve around death, endurance, separation, and grief.)

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility”

---William Wordsworth

Image source: Wikipedia

Taiwan is proud of:

The name “Formosa”

Various landforms: Yushan (The highest mountain in North East Asia), Yangmingshan (Volcano landscape), Kenting National Park (Tropical scenery and atmosphere)

Biological diversity: abundance in species of animals and plants.

“Like what Wordsworth took from daffodils, we can seek inspiration from the deeply-enriched natural environment in Taiwan.”

Plan a trip to nature on: http://blossom.tw.tranews.com

Enjoy the tranquility and beauty of the nature.

Feel and think about what nature shows to you.

Reflect on your life and build connect between you and nature.

Record your findings by: taking photos, writing, composing and painting.

Image source: Wikipedia

Amberdine Sung

Wordsworth’s philosophy of time:

Time moves on yet beauty in nature does not.

Pingxi Railway, New Taipei City

Pingxi Railway, New Taipei City

Wordsworth’s philosophy of memory:

On the contrary to present life, memory is ever-lasting and refreshing.

2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition

2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition

Wordsworth’s philosophy of childhood:

Childhood breeds adulthood. Recalling the good old times, people can retreat to happiness.

Beggarticks

Beggarticks

Tony

I forced my way through the crowd By jabbing my elbows and stepping on toes When all of a sudden, I saw a cloud in the shape of a beautiful rose Above the streetlamp, beside the tree Wavering in the dancing breeze They say clouds all have a silver line Myself, I believe the rumor's fine But now I insist that the saying is true After seeing that rose against a backdrop of blue How can I be so sure, you say? Well, I'll tell you what happened that day

That moment I saw the rose in the sky In shock, I stood still in the ground

And was knocked over by the crowd And heard my ribs break with a cracking sound

So I ended up in the hospital bed And that is all that can be said

For oft, when on this bed I lie

In a depressed or vacant mood I suddenly see in my mind's eye

That cloudy rose in the sky And then my chest fills with pain

And I remind myself never to do that again

(allpoetry.com)

My heart leaps up when I behold A porn-site on the web: So was it in postcards of old; So it is now I am so old; So be it when I shall behold All in the web! What I seek shall never come true And I could wish a thought were there That made them virginal in their deed

I wandered lonely along as if I was a cloud That floats on high over vales and hills When all at once I looked down and saw a crowd And in my path there was a host of golden daffodils so check it

The kind of sight that puts your mind at ease

I saw beside the lake and beneath the tress And they moved me Like they were based on the keys They were fluttering and dancing inside the breeze and seemed infinite Just like the stars that shine up in the belt of Orion across to the Milky Way They stretched along the coast in a never ending line All across the water marching across the golden silky bay

Must have been 10,000 I saw in my retina No more than a glance then I register they’re beautiful etcetera I never knew in advance but they were tossing up their heads like a pogo dance

In a contrast to the plants, there were waves beside

them The way they crashed and sparkled added to the marvel And the writer couldn’t help but feeling bright like sunbeam cos the flowers and the waves they were quite someting yeah Across the spot… just lost the plot…. just watched and watched all the yellow and green And at the time I didn’t need to pay them no mine but when I think back to the day it was a hell of a scene

So often when I’m on my couch just sitting In a vacant mood or idle position With nothing to do my face screwed - time ticking I gotta rewind to my vision I get a flashback In my minds eye Feel the bliss of solitude from the hindsight My heart fills up until the pleasure has spilled yeah I’m taking back to dancing with the daffodils…

Wordsworth’s poems are refreshing and profound in many ways even for contemporary readers.

The connections between the ancient poems and modern everyday life could easily be found in Wordsworth’s works.

http://www.gradesaver.com/wordsworths-poetical-works/study-guide/section8/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart_Leaps_Up http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/my-heart-leaps- p-when-i-behold.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9%3A1-17&version= NIV http://blog.roodo.com/afenfen3/archives/7819431.html Cassidy, Eva. Over The Rainbow. 2012. Photograph. Koch's Tour. Wordpress, 14 Sept.

2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://teresainfortworth.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/over-the-rainbow-eva-cassidy/>.

Glacier national park, Glacier National Park. Personal photograph by author. 2012. Map of Lake District. N.d. Photograph. Worldguides. TravelSmart Ltd. Web. 25 Oct.

2012. <http://www.lake-district.world-guides.com/lake_district_maps.html>. Moore, Matthew. "Squirrel Rapper Releases Hip-hop Wordsworth." The Telegraph.

Telegraph Media Group, 10 Apr. 2007. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1548151/Squirrel-rapper-releases-hip-hop-Wordsworth.html>.

Thomas, Benny. "A Parody on Wordsworth." Web log post. Wordpress. N.p., 9 Nov. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://bennythomas.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/a-parody-on-wordsworth/>.

United Kingdom Map. Map of Cumbria. N.d. Photograph. Worldguides. TravelSmart Ltd. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.lake-district.world-guides.com/lake_district_maps.html>.

Yinyue. "Parody of I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by YinyueEdit." Parody of I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud by Yinyue. N.p., 17 Apr. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://allpoetry.com/poem/7388940-Parody_of_I_Wandered_Lonely_As_A_Cloud-by-yinyue>.

YouTube. Dir. Lars Amble. YouTube. YouTube, 10 Apr. 2007. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXbrSALG684>.

YouTube. Dir. Toontracker. YouTube. YouTube, 11 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1L-8f2erg>.