I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth, Presentation

General Introduction to the Poem

. It's one of the most famous poems in the English language. . It was composed in 1804, two years after Wordsworth had seen the flowers he describes while walking by Ullswater on a stormy day with Dorothy, his sister. . His inspiration for the poem came from an account written by Dorothy who described them as tossing and reeling and dancing.

General Introduction to the Poem's Utopia

• The poem describes a kind of utopia, where peace and joy abound. Thus, though his time in this perfect place was short lived, the experience had long term effects on the poet.

. The four six-line stanzas which make up the poem follow a quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme: ABABCC. . Each line is metred in iambic tetrameters.

First Stanza of the Poem

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.

Analysis of the First Stanza

• The speaker says that, wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils beside a lake.
• The setting is idyllic (vales, hills, a lake) and the daffodils are personified (crowd, host, fluttering, dancing).

. The reverse personification by which the poet is compared to a natural object strengthens the idea of an inherent unity between man and nature.

Second Stanza of the Poem

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.

Analysis of the Second Stanza

• The dancing, fluttering flowers stretched endlessly along the shore, as innumerable as the stars above.

. The focus this time is the astonishing number of the flowers (continuous, never-ending, ten thousand) and their star-like lustre (shine, twinkle). . The personification of the daffodils continues with their joyful dance.

Third Stanza of the Poem

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:

Analysis of the Third Stanza

• Though the waves of the lake danced beside the flowers, the daffodils outshone them in delight and the speaker says that a poet could not help being happy in such a joyful company.
• Joy is the key-word of this stanza, a glee shared by the water, the daffodils and the poet (glee, gay, jocund).
• The sight enjoyed that day would become a lasting comfort and the spark for an immortal poem.

Fourth Stanza of the Poem

When and where?

How?

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. Memory

Analysis of the Fourth Stanza

• The memory of those dancing daffodils flashed suddenly before him time and again, when he was alone, lost in his own thoughts, and invariably brought comfort to him.

. Here we find how the poetic process works according to Wordsworth: «poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings» which «takes its origins from emotion recollected in tranquillity».

The Poetic Process

Object Poet Sensory experience Emotion Imagination Memory i.e. recollection in tranquillity Emotion Reader Poem Kindred emotion