الرئيسية
The poem 'Daffodils' is also known by the title 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud', a lyrical poem written by William Wordsworth in 1804. It was published in 1815 in 'Collected Poems' with four stanzas. William Wordsworth is a well-known romantic poet who believed in conveying simple and creative expressions through his poems
Thus, Daffodils is one of the most popular poems of the Romantic Age, unfolding the poet's excitement, love and praise for a field blossoming with daffodils.
William Wordsworth was one of the major poets of his time honored as England's Poet Laureate. He was a nature poet who helped to coin the term 'Romanticism' in English Literature
Title and Theme of the Poem 'Daffodils'
The title, 'Daffodils' is a simple word that reminds us about the arrival of the spring season, when the field is full of daffodils. Daffodils are yellow flowers, having an amazing shape and beautiful fragrance. A bunch of daffodils symbolize the joys and happiness of life.
The theme of the poem 'Daffodils' is a collection of human emotions inspired by nature that we may have neglected due to our busy lives. The daffodils imply rebirth, a new beginning for human beings, blessed with the grace of nature. The arrival of daffodils in the month of March is welcome and an enjoyable time to appreciate them!
Summary
The speaker says that, wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils beside a lake. The dancing, fluttering flowers stretched endlessly along the shore, and though the waves of the lake danced beside the flowers, the daffodils outdid the water in glee. The speaker says that a poet could not help but be happy in such a joyful company of flowers. He says that he stared and stared, but did not realize what wealth the scene would bring him. For now, whenever he feels “vacant” or “pensive,” the memory flashes upon “that inward eye / That is the bliss of solitude,” and his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the daffodils.”
Form
The four six-line stanzas of this poem follow a quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme: ABABCC. Each line is metered in iambic tetrameter.
An analysis of the imagery in the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth.
I chose the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth because I like the imagery in it of dancing daffodils. Upon closer examination, I realized that most of this imagery is created by the many metaphors and similes Wordsworth uses. In the first line, Wordsworth says "I Wandered Lonely as a cloud." This is a simile comparing the wondering of a man to a cloud drifting through the sky. I suppose the wandering cloud is Lonely because there is nothing up there that high in the sky besides it. It can pass by unnoticed, touching nothing. Also, the image of a cloud brings to mind a light, carefree sort of wandering. The cloud is not bound by any obstacle, but can go wherever the whim of the wind takes it. The next line of poem says "I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." Here Wordsworth is using a metaphor to compare the daffodils to a crowd of people and a host of angels. The word crowd brings to mind an image of the daffodils chattering amongst one another, leaning their heads near each other in the wind. The word host makes them seem like their golden petals are shimmering like golden halos on angels. It is interesting to note that daffodils do have a circular rim of petals in the middle that could look like a halo. Later in the poem Wordsworth uses another simile, saying the dancing of daffodils in the wind is "continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way." This line creates the image of the wind blowing the tops of random daffodils up and down in a haphazard matter, so they appear to glint momentarily as their faces catch the sun. This goes along with the next metaphor of the daffodils "tossing their heads in sprightly dance." Comparing their movement to a dance also makes me think of swirling, swishing yellow skirts moving in harmony.
It is also interesting how the first image of the wandering cloud contrasts sharply with the second image of the dancing daffodils. The cloud drifts in solitude slowly and placidly across the sky, whereas the daffodils hurry to and fro in an energetic, lively scramble. This contrast seems to show that looking at the daffodils made the author feel better than he did before, that they cheered him up. This idea is supported by the last line of poem, where he says his heart "with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils" whenever he thinks of them
Commentary
This simple poem, one of the loveliest and most famous in the Wordsworth canon, revisits the familiar subjects of nature and memory, this time with a particularly (simple) spare, musical eloquence. The plot is extremely simple, depicting the poet’s wandering and his discovery of a field of daffodils by a lake, the memory of which pleases him and comforts him when he is lonely, bored, or restless. The characterization of the sudden occurrence of a memory—the daffodils “flash upon the inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude”—is psychologically acute, but the poem’s main brilliance lies in the reverse personification of its early stanzas. The speaker is metaphorically compared to a natural object, a cloud—“I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high...”, and the daffodils are continually personified as human beings, dancing and “tossing their heads” in “a crowd, a host.” This technique implies an inherent unity between man and nature, making it one of Wordsworth’s most basic and effective methods for instilling in the reader the feeling the poet so often describes himself as experiencing.
Analysis
Daffodils are happy flowers. They are the first flower of spring and seeing them brings joy to many people. William Wordsworth is considered a poet of nature and a topographic or landscape poet. Wordsworth's "Daffodils" has a meaning and structure in which different techniques such as figurative language, imagery, and personification are used to successfully express his joy and feelings of glee in the vision of the daffodils dancing in the breeze.
Wordsworth uses figurative language to describe himself in the poem. Wordsworth begins the poem alone. He is not only alone but happy to be alone he enjoys the tranquility of solitude. Describing himself as a cloud, something that is considered peaceful. "I wandered lonely as a cloud (1)." There is a sense of timelessness in his journey as he travels "on high o'er vales and hills (2)." Then "all at once" he is over whelmed by the realization that he is in fact not alone but surrounded by a crowd, crowd of friendly daffodils (3). They were everywhere "B...