Wordsworth once stated that, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” This quote might sound far from profound when said to people of our culture today, since we are taught to write and create projects from personal experiences like Wordsworth says, but to people of his time, this was a breakthrough idea. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" was written in 1804, when people didn't typically write things that related to their ideals, dreams, our sensory intakes. It sounds preposterous, I know, but it just proves how different our style of writing today is from centuries ago.
In Wordsworth's twenty-four line poem that's composed of six, four-line stanzas, Wordsworth creates a beautiful but simple message about the beauty of nature and how inspiring it can be. The images that he uses to describe the scene are like an artist painting a scene vividly so the reader can see it with his mind's eye. He writes in lines three through six that,
"When all at once I saw a crowd, 3
A host, of golden daffodils; 4
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 5
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze." 6
As a reader, I can picture the color of the flowers, their location, and the way their movements. The image of these flowers "fluttering and dancing" added more rhythm to the poem, which is written in a strict, but melodious, rhyme scheme (ABABCC; DEDEFF, etc.). By giving these flowers human-like characteristics, Wordsworth is personifying them.
It is apparent that by looking at these examples, readers can see that what Wordsworth was writing about held meaning to him personally, but also that the text was rich with poetic devices. It's not simply a 'cutesy' poem with cheery, plain language. Or, is it? What makes this poem so futuristic is that Wordsworth was advanced for his time by writing in this type of style. You won’t find any earth-shattering revelations of truth within this poem. Wordsworth felt that the little moments in life could be the most profound, and readers see proof of that in this poem. I mean, he's writing about some dancing daffodils and how is heart is made so glad by seeing them. Many people can relate to what he's writing about, and that's why it's one of the most beloved poems of all time. "I wandered lonely as a Cloud" describes an experience numerous people have probably had: they're bummed out, maybe because of something that happened in a relationship or maybe because it’s an unpleasant day outside, and suddenly they see something that just makes them smile and feel cheerful again. I think its popularity has something to with how unabashedly joyful it is. Fluffy or not, Wordsworth had the right idea when he 'wandered lonely as a cloud'.
- He also uses personification in the first two lines, when the poem says, "I wandered lonely as a cloud," drawing a simile between the wandering speaker and the single lonely cloud.
- There's also personification going on here in addition to the simile, since clouds don't possess the capability to be lonely.
- Looking at lines three and four, Wordsworth then moves to personifying the daffodils as a crowd of people.
- In the end of the first and beginning of the second stanza, lines seven and eight capture a simile comparing the shape and number of the daffodils to the band of stars that we call the Milky Way galaxy.
- When readers reach line nine, they meet the example of a hyperbole (or exaggeration) in the poem. The speaker says that the line of daffodils is "never-ending," but we know this can’t be strictly true: all good things come to an end.
- The first line of the third stanza (line 12) again personifies the daffodils, giving them "heads," allowing them to bob in the breeze. In the proceeding two lines, the waves are then personified, making them dance.
- Lines 21 through 24 is the location where Wordsworth imagines the daffodils in his spiritual vision, for which he uses the metaphor of an "inward eye." His heart dances like a person, too.
It is apparent that by looking at these examples, readers can see that what Wordsworth was writing about held meaning to him personally, but also that the text was rich with poetic devices. It's not simply a 'cutesy' poem with cheery, plain language. Or, is it? What makes this poem so futuristic is that Wordsworth was advanced for his time by writing in this type of style. You won’t find any earth-shattering revelations of truth within this poem. Wordsworth felt that the little moments in life could be the most profound, and readers see proof of that in this poem. I mean, he's writing about some dancing daffodils and how is heart is made so glad by seeing them. Many people can relate to what he's writing about, and that's why it's one of the most beloved poems of all time. "I wandered lonely as a Cloud" describes an experience numerous people have probably had: they're bummed out, maybe because of something that happened in a relationship or maybe because it’s an unpleasant day outside, and suddenly they see something that just makes them smile and feel cheerful again. I think its popularity has something to with how unabashedly joyful it is. Fluffy or not, Wordsworth had the right idea when he 'wandered lonely as a cloud'.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils)
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.
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.
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