"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

Introduction

Born in England in 1770, William Wordsworth figured prominently in the development of Romantic sensibilities in his home country. In that spirit, much of his work draws inspiration from nature or highly personal yet fleeting moments in his life. This work came as a result of a excursion into the forest with his sister, Dorothy, in April of 1802. Though initially received poorly, it has come to be a hallmark of English Romantic poetry.

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.

Reflection Questions

What elements does Wordsworth employ to capture his experience in poetry?
In what way does the poem describe the power the memory has?
How does the experience the speaker describes relate to the memory he or she recalls?