Ritsumeikan University

Flowers In Poetry: William Wordsworth′s
I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

by

Lyle De Souza, Tomiko Minami

This paper introduces a beautiful poem by William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. In this paper, I wish to elucidate on Wordsworth′s choice of words and also on the greater profound concept that I think Wordsworth is trying to depict to his readers. The first part of the paper will focus on explaining the poem in order to make it more readily understandable. It will show how Wordsworth eloquently uses figurative language, imagery, and personification to describe a scenic display of daffodils. The second part of the paper ensues from the first part, and offers an in-depth analysis of the poem. In particular, it will examine the concept of the futility of the individual when compared to the collective good of society, as shown in the context of man versus nature.

William Wordsworth was one of the most accomplished and influential of England′s Romantic poets, whose theories and style created a new tradition in poetry. Much of Wordsworth′s easy flow of conversational blank verse has true lyrical power and grace. His finest work is permeated by a sense of the human relationship to external nature that is religious in its scope and intensity. To Wordsworth, God was everywhere manifest in the harmony of nature and he felt deeply the kinship between nature and the soul of humankind. Wordsworth′s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is one of many poems that he produced between his birth in 1770 and his death in 1850.

I will now attempt in a few words to interpret, line-by-line, what I believe Wordsworth wished to say in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud in modern, straightforward English. What I say is not necessarily ′correct′ but merely my own interpretation of the poem. Similarly, I admit that by reinterpreting the text in such a manner it is possible that nuances of expression may be lost. However, hopefully by understanding the poem from the outset it will enable us to concentrate on analyzing it more effectively (and in its original form) later. Please now refer to your text.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
I wandered as lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o′er vales and hills,
That floats high above valleys and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
When suddenly I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
A large number of gold colored daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
They were beside the lake and under the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Fluttering and dancing in the wind.

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To summarize the poem one can say that it details the walk of the author along a picturesque peace of (British) countryside where the author is struck by the beauty and power of nature, in particular, that of a large group of daffodils. The author then reflects upon the beauty of these daffodils, which in turn reveals their true power (i.e. the power of nature). The author then begins to compare the power of nature with humanity - a grander concept that I will return to later in the paper.

In the first stanza Wordsworth describes himself to wander "lonely as a cloud" (1). He identifies himself as a solitary being - alone in a void of privacy. In the next line he sees the daffodils, describing them as "a crowd, / A host, of golden daffodils" (3-4). Wordsworth went from being alone to the total opposite - completely surrounded and overwhelmed by a presence (the daffodils). We can also find impact in the several meanings of the word "host" used in line 4. The word "host" in a thesaurus can also mean: "crowd," "swarm," "congregation" and "mass." Wordsworth′s usage of the word "host" creates images of community and strength in numbers.

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