Iwanderedlonelyasacloud
Iwanderedlonelyasacloud
Iwanderedlonelyasacloud
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 (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 poem
Nature' 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
Wordsworths 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 .
--------------------------
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
The secondary imagination, on the other hand, is 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 hills
Consonance: 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