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

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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.

Continuous as the stars that shine There were as many daffodils as there are stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, And sparkle in space, They stretched in never-ending line The daffodils stretched in a continuous line Along the margin of a bay:

Along the edge of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance, I saw ten thousand daffodils with just one glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. They were moving their heads like a dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they The waves of the sea beside them danced too; but Out-did the spark ling waves in glee: The daffodils were much brighter and better: A poet could not but be gay, A poet (like myself) could not help being happy, In such a jocund company:

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To be in such cheerful company:

I gazed---and gazed---but little thought I stared and stared but didn’t think What wealth the show to me had brought:

Of how that wonderful viewing delighted me:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

Often when I lie on my couch In vacant or in pensive mood, In a reflective mood or deep in thought, They flash upon that inward eye The daffodils come back into my mind’s eye Which is the bliss of solitude;

Which is a joyful result of thinking alone;

And then my heart with pleasure fills, And then my heart fills with pleasure, And dances with the daffodils.

And dances with the daffodils.

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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Wordsworth overwhelms us with collective images in stanza 2, relating the daffodils to stars, describing them as stretching “in never-ending line” (9) and also expressing that he sees “ten thousand ... at a glance” (11). In the last line of stanza 1 he personifies the daffodils to be “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (6). We can elaborate on Wordsworth’s many collective images through this line. Frequently, communities or groups of people have trouble working together, but through Wordsworth’s personification of the daffodils, also seen in line 12 where the daffodils are “tossing their heads in sprightly dance,” (12) we recognize that the daffodils are working together in unison with no trouble at all. Their “dance” is in complete coordination.

In stanza 3, Wordsworth compares the daffodils to another natural image, waves. “The waves beside them danced; but they / Outdid the sparkling waves in glee” (13-14). He personifies both the daffodils and the waves to “dance,” again suggesting the ability of both to work as one, but here we also see that Wordsworth decides that the daffodils make much more of an impression on him than the waves. Both objects work in unison, but the difference between the two is that when Wordsworth looks at the waves he only sees one object. When he looks at the daffodils he sees “ten thousand” objects! The waves lack strength i n numbers, which is the one aspect of the daffodils which impresses Wordsworth the most; the fact that these “ten thousand” separate things can unite and “dance” so beautifully together.

The way that Wordsworth arranges each line in stanzas 1 and 2 places emphasis on the significance of the daffodils working communally. Each stanza has six lines, and in the first five lines of stanzas 1 and 2, Wordsworth hits us with these collective images. But in the last lines of each stanza, lines 6 and 12, Wordsworth effectively impresses upon us the image of the daffodils moving as one. It is not by coincidence that Wordsworth creates so many images of community and then hits us over the head with images of working together in stanzas 1 and 2. Wordsworth has something important to say about individualism versus community—suggesting that there is definite beauty in communities or large groups – i.e. society that has cooperation. Interestingly, Wordsworth has to venture outside of society and into nature to be able to find this beauty.

In the last two lines of stanza 3 Wordsworth describes his behavior, which is common to us all. “I gazed—and gazed—but little thought / What wealth the show to me had brought” (17- 18). It only occurs to the author later, when sitting on hi s couch of the “wealth” he at first missed. “For oft, when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood, / They flash upon that inward