I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
by William Wordsworth
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.
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.
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:
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.
Meanings of I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud
The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by Wordsworth shows the poet presenting his experience of looking at the daffodil flowers and experiencing a state of trance in the future with their memory. The main idea of the poem is that the real experience with nature fills a person’s heart with happiness and brings wisdom.
Meanings of Stanza -1
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.
The poet starts the poem with the description of a cloud that is lonely. It is floating in the air. The poet sees it going over the valleys and hills. Chasing the path of the cloud, the poet comes across a group of daffodil flowers beside a lake. They have grown under trees. The flowers were dancing in the morning breeze. This beautiful scene made the poet forget the cloud and see the flowers in their purely natural state. This stanza adds to the main idea of the poem, which is the presence of nature and the arrival of wisdom.
Meanings of Stanza -2
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.
The poet compares the daffodils with stars and states that they continue to shine as if stars in a milky way. They have a long line. This long line has reached the margin of the nearby. Now the poet has guessed that they are not just a host of flowers. They are thousands that he can see. They are dancing in the morning breeze like dancers throwing their heads in a trance. This beautiful scene makes up the first part of the main idea of the poem in that it is a purely natural scene that the poet has captured in words.
Meanings of Stanza -3
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:
The poet sees that the waves have also started dancing along with the flowers. It seems to the poet that both compete with each other. He sees that the flowers have sparkled more and have won the competition against the sparkling waves. The poet also starts showing his happiness in such happy company. He looks at both natural things and becomes happier. He thinks that this wealth of happiness would have never come to him through any other means. This stanza shows that natural beauty brings everlasting happiness, which is the partial theme of the main idea of the poem.
Meanings of Stanza -4
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.
The poet now presents his feelings. He is back at home and states that when he is alone and lies down on his couch, he finds himself in a pensive or depressive mood or vacant thoughts. Then his imagination brings the scene of those flowers to his solitude. This blissfulness of solitude fills his heart with pleasure. He starts dancing with the flowers in his imagination and dreams. This is why the natural scene has brought him to be happy at all times, even in his solitude. This wisdom has come to him only through looking at nature. This stanza completes the main idea of the poem, which is the start of wisdom with the understanding of nature.
Summary of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
- Popularity: Written by William Wordsworth, this poem is a wonderful literary piece of nature’s description. It was first published in 1807 in Poems in Two Volume. It was written as a lyric poem to capture the bewitching beauty of the wildflowers and express a deeper feeling and emotions of the poet. It has become an eternal classic for describing nature and its scenic beauty.
- “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” as a Poem of Nature: As this poem is about the captivating beauty of nature, it has been written from a subjective point of view. It details the poet’s encounters with the majestic daffodils in the field beside the lake. The expression of wonder can be felt throughout the poem. The feeling of enjoying the spellbinding beauty of nature and its impacts on the human mind can leave the reader desiring to spend more time with nature.
- Major Themes: The major theme of this poem is nature and human involvement in natural beauty. It also points to another theme – the impact of nature on a human. The poem encompasses the thoughts of an adult, why he meanders over the hills and how this sudden occurrence is a blessing in his solitude. The never-ending row of those enchanting flowers impresses him so much that he compares them with the sparkling stars of the galaxy. He is captivated by the startling view of nature. This everlasting impact, triggered by nature, often serves as a delight for the poet, when he feels low or in loneliness.
Analysis of Literary Devices in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
literary devices are used to bring richness and clarity to the texts. The writers use them to make their texts appealing and meaningful. Wordsworth has also made the poem deeper and richer by using these devices. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is given below.
- Simile: Simile is a device used to compare one object to another to help readers understand or to clarify the meanings using ‘as’ or ‘like’. There are two similes used in this poem. “I wandered lonely as a cloud.” He compares his loneliness with a single cloud. The second is used in the opening line of the second stanza, “Continues as the stars that shine.” Here Wordsworth compares the endless row of daffodils with countless stars.
- Personification: Personification is to attribute human characteristics to lifeless objects. The poet has personified “daffodils” in the third line of the poem, such as, “When all at once I saw a crowd.” The crowd shows the number of daffodils. The second example of personification is used in the second stanza as, “Tossing their heads and sprightly dance.” It shows that the Daffodils are humans that can dance. The third example is in the third stanza such as, “In a jocund company.” Here he considered the daffodils as his buoyant company.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of poetry, such as the use of /g/ sound in “I gazed and gazed” and the use of /w/ sound in “What wealth the show to me had brought.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Ten thousand I saw at a glance” and /e/ sound in “They stretched in never-ending.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as the sound of /t/ in “what wealth the show to me had brought” and /n/ sound in “in vacant or in pensive.”
- Metaphor: Wordsworth uses one metaphor in this poem in the last stanza “They flash upon that inward eye.” Here “inward eye” represents the sweet memory of daffodils.
- Imagery: The use of imagery makes the reader visualize the writer’s feelings and emotions. Wordsworth has used images appealing to the sense of sight, such as “lonely as a cloud”, “ a crowd”, “never-ending line”, ”milky way” and “jocund company.” These descriptions help the reader to imagine or feel the same joy felt by the speaker.
The careful glimpse of this analysis shows that the poet has skillfully projected his ideas using these literary devices. Their appropriate use has made this poem meditative and thoughtful for the reader.
Analysis of Poetic Devices in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is the poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are four stanzas with six lines in each stanza.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABABCC rhyme scheme, where the first line rhymes with the third and the second line rhymes with the fourth lines, respectively.
- Iambic Tetrameter: The poem follows Iambic Tetrameter, which means there are four feet per line, or each unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, as in the first line of this poem, such as “I wandered lone-ly as a ”
- Parallelism: It is the use of components in a sentence that is similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter, such as “beside the lake, beneath the trees.”
Quotes to be Used
- The following lines can be used when narrating a holiday experience when enjoying a quiet time with nature and away from people.
“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;”
- These two lines can be used for children when teaching about heavenly bodies. For example, the expressions of twinkling and shining of the stars can be used to teach and envision the galaxies.
“Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way;”