I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud William Wordsworth

Type of Work, Year of Composition, and Year of Publication.

William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud " also known as “ The daffodils” is a lyric poem focusing on the poet's response to the beauty of nature.

{ A lyric poem presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story or presenting a witty observation.}

The final version of the poem was first published in Collected Poems in 1815. An earlier version was published in Poems in Two Volumes in 1807 as a three-stanza poem. The final version has four stanzas. Wordsworth wrote the earlier version in 1804, two years after seeing the lakeside daffodils that inspired the poem .

Setting and Background Information

The poem recaptures a moment on April 15, 1802. whenWordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, were walking near Lake Ullswater in Grasmere, Cambria County, England, and came across a "long belt" of golden daffodils.

Wordsworth sister Dorothy, played an important part in his life and she also influenced him with her love of nature.

I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils): Rhyme, Form &

Meter"I wandered lonely as a Cloud" has a fairly simple form that fits its simple and folksy theme and language. It consists of four stanzas with six lines each, for a total of 24 lines.The rhyme scheme is also simple: ABABCC. (Rhymed Stanzas in Iambic Tetrameter ) . The last two lines of each stanza rhyme like the end of a Shakespearean sonnet, so each stanza feels independent and self-sufficient. This is called a "rhyming couplet." 

I wandered lonely as a Cloud I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) Summary(Daffodils) Summary

In this poem the poet describes his experience of the sight of "a host of daffodils" during a lonely walk, the daffodils delight him with her beauty and "their sprightly dance". He says "they seem as numerous as the stars that shine in the sky"; He also remarks on the beauty of the lake nearby, but adds that even its sparkling waves are not so exuberant as the yellow daffodils "dancing in the breeze". Moreover, when he is sad, he thinks of daffodils "and then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils", that is to say, when his feelings are depressed, thinking of daffodils cheers him up.

I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) Analysis

William Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud" epitomizes the Romanticism that flourished in nineteenth century Europe. The  lyric movingly exemplifies Wordsworth's abstract definition of poetry as  "emotion recollected in tranquility."  Imagination is  the key that unlocks the innermost depths of the human spirit, and imagination is best awakened by contemplation and celebration of the wonders of nature.

First stanza….The poem is rich with imagery. In the first stanza ,The poet compares himself to a cloud. He is walking lonely as the cloud is moving lonely in the sky over vales and hills. So, the poet from the very beginning represents the idea of loneliness. Suddenly, in his solitude while the poet was walking lonely, he saw unlimited number of golden daffodils. They were beside the lake and under the trees. These daffodils were moving so rapidly as if they were dancing. The poet saw them fluttering and dancing together happily. They were dancing only in his eyes and imagination. In fact, the poet colors what he sees by his imagination. The physical movement of dancing reflects the psychological state of the daffodils' happiness. The first stanza a contrast between the loneliness of the poet and the crowd of the daffodils.

Second stanza….The poet compares these daffodils to the stars on the milky way in the sky. Both of them are numerous in number and are shining or twinkling. So, the daffodils are shining because they have yellow color at their top. So, when they are grouped together, the yellow color at their top shines like stars in the sky. Daffodils are continuing in their movement. The poet describes their movement (dancing) saying that they were stretching along the edge of the lake as if they were human being tossing their heads. So, the poet, in this stanza, describes the happy movement of the daffodils. These daffodils were situated in a line that never ends to the degree that he imagines himself seeing ten thousand of them. In fact, this is an exaggeration because the poet cannot see ten thousand daffodils just in one glance. But, he makes this exaggeration because he is influenced by the shiny appearance of the daffodils.

Third stanza…. In the third stanza ,the poet starts to talk about the waves which are in the lake. The waves, like the daffodils, are dancing. They are happy, therefore, they are moving as if they were dancing in the lake besides the daffodils. The joy of the waves exceeds the joy of the daffodils. The waves and the daffodils are humanized as they feel joy. But, the daffodils are happier than the waves. This scene affects the poet and makes him happy. So, in the company of happy daffodils and waves, the poet should be happy like them. In this contemplation, everything in nature affects him, and makes him happy.

Last stanza….In the last stanza, the poet describes his state when he remembers the dancing of the daffodils and waves in his solitude. He says that from time to time when he has nothing to do, when his mind is vacant, or when he his mind in contemplating something, he sees by his inward eye and imagination something which gives him pleasure. He remembers the happy dancing of the daffodils and waves while he is lying on his couch. As result, he becomes happy and his heart is filled with pleasure and happiness. This can be done only in his solitude which gives him a chance to contemplate nature. Contemplation of nature is the main source of happiness to all the romantic poets. So, his contemplation of nature (the dancing of the daffodils and waves) is the source of his happiness even he starts to dance with the daffodils after his heart is filled with pleasure. This explains the effect of nature on the poet. So, this poem represents the beauty of nature and its effect on human beings.

Main Theme of the poemNature' s beauty uplifts the human spirit .Theme of { Happiness } :” Fluttering and dancing in the breeze “ the poem just makes you feel good about life by using the power of imagination . Man and the Natural World :” They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay

“ Wordsworth’s nature is full of life and vitality. He appreciates its wildness and unpredictability, but he humanizes the landscape and fits it to his own mind. the theme of loneliness : 'I wandered lonely as a cloud.' that could by affected by daily routines .

theme of rejecting city life and going back to the Mother Nature .

Memory and the Past : the poet can always draw on his imagination to reproduce the joy of the event and to remember the spiritual wisdom that it provided powers of imagination . 

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Primary and the Secondary Imagination

The primary imagination is essentially the sublime aspect of human consciousness: raw creativity, or “the spontaneous overflow of emotion” .The primary imagination was vital to Romantic poets for them to be able to create moving images as we going to in the “ Daffodils Daffodils ””

The secondary imagination, on the other hand, The secondary imagination, on the other hand, is creativity tempered by the conscious willis creativity tempered by the conscious will..

Primary and the Secondary Imagination

The persona ( poet) uses the primary and the secondary imagination, which was fundamental in the romantic poetry. In "The Daffodils", the primary imagination occurs when the persona imagines himself as a cloud that saw a group of dancing daffodils. Then, the secondary imagination happens when he remembers these daffodils while he was sitting on his couch and this memory, of things that never happened, fills his heart with happiness. Therefore, the secondary imagination is a sequence of the primary imagination .

Figures of speech:

Simile : as in “ I wandered lonely as a cloud “ and “Continuous as the stars that shine “ .Metaphor: as in" What wealth the show to me had brought ”Personification : as in “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze ’’The word "dance" is repeated 3 times in this poem. In the 1st stanza, it denotes the happiness and liveliness of the flowers. In the 2nd stanza, it creates a sense of harmonious relationship between the daffodils and the waves. In the last stanza, it refers that this harmony is advanced to include the poet himself.

Figures of speech:

Apostrophe: “I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; ”.The poet apostrophizes the daffodils and describes them in their large number as a crowd of people. Also , “In such a jocund company “The poets addresses the flowers as human beings and describes them as a happy company of good friends .

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Musical devices:

Alliteration: Beside and beneath / high and hillsConsonance: wandered and cloud / that and floats Assonance : fluttering, dancing / such and jocund

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City life vs Nature Through the lines, the shift of the poet feelings is very clear. Firstly, he complains about the corrupted world, which lacks cooperation and harmony, so he wanders lonely and hopeless. He prefers to get away from other people as if being with them brings him nothing but more sadness and loneliness. However, seeing the golden daffodils cheered him up because they welcomed him. "A host, of golden daffodils" shows that the poet ran away from city life and took nature as a shelter to protect him from the world's corruption. The fact that the daffodils are dancing with each others proves the harmonious relationships, which exists even with other natural elements like the trees and the waves. This scene changes the poet feelings from loneliness and sadness because of the corrupted world to company and joy because of the beauty and purity of the nature.

characteristics of the romantic literature shown in the

daffodils Firstly, the romantic poetry was based on the theme of rejecting city life and going back to Mother Nature. Actually, some critics accused these poets of being escapists because they left their lives behind their backs instead of solving them. Secondly, the romantic poets thought that they could see more and better than ordinary people did because they had deeper emotions. This was proven when the persona said, "Ten thousand saw I at a glance". Thirdly, the poets uses the primary and the secondary imagination, which was fundamental in the romantic poetry.

In addition, the poem shows another romantic characteristic, which is recollecting the ideas in tranquility. It occurs when a poet has a poetic experience, he shall calm down. Later, he can collect his ideas and feelings by his imagination when he has a vacant mood because if he writes after having the poetic experience immediately, his poem will be as recording historical events since it hasn't been colored by the poet's imagination. In "The Daffodils", the persona's poetic experience was seeing the dancing daffodils, so he wrote his poem after recollecting his ideas in tranquility because he says "when on my couch I lie / in vacant or pensive mood".

Finally,

The general atmosphere of the poem begins with sadness and agony, but changes into happiness and joy. This atmosphere is emphasized through the choice of words. Firstly, the words were negative and unpleasant such as "wandered" and "lonely". They point out the sense of isolation. However, these words change to be more positive and cheerful as in "dancing", "stars that shine", "gay", …etc