Omama R.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth
The poem is rich with imagery. In this poem, the poet uses various
things to describe the beauty, joy and elegance of the
daffodils. In stanza 2, he compares Daffodils with a galaxy of
stars. In stanza 3, he compares them with the waves of the
lake. The poet thus wants us to feel the beauty of nature.

Throughout the poem, the poet emphasizes the nature and the
natural things. And thus it is the complete rejection of the newly
developed industrial world and an escape to nature and the rustic
world.

Summary
First stanza

The poet compares himself to a cloud. He is walking lonely as the

cloud is moving lonely in the sky over vales and hills (this first line
contains a Simile). So, the poet from the very beginning
represents the idea of loneliness. He used the word „wandered‟.
The idea of wandering gives us the impression that the speaker is
lost, lost whether it be in his own thoughts or lost in life or
maybe just lost while wandering or walking without any specific
destination in mind.

Suddenly, the speaker sees a crowd (group) of daffodil flowers.

We believe that this part is very important for the reasons that
first of all, host also means crowd, both words have the same
meaning and more importantly when reading the poem, you might

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not just see a field of daffodils but also associate it with a host
of angels. A "crowd" is usually associated with groups of people,
while "host" is associated with angels. This idea is further
emphasized when he uses the word „golden‟ to describe them. He
could have said „host of yellow daffodils” but he used the word
„gold‟ which gives it this heavenly, majestic image.

The lyrical speaker also tells us that the daffodils were beside
the lake and under the trees, They were moving so rapidly as if
they were dancing. In this last line, he uses personification in
order to give them human qualities and behaviors to try to bring
them to life. "Dancing" is something that usually only humans do.
Also, he uses the word „flattering‟ to emphasize the heavenly idea
of angels.

The first stanza a contrast between the loneliness of the poet

and the crowd of the daffodils.

Second Stanza

The poet compares these daffodils to the stars on the milky way
in the sky. This line contains another Simile. Both of them are
numerous in number and are shining and twinkling.

These daffodils were situated in a line that never ends to the

degree that he imagines himself seeing ten thousand of them. He
uses a Hyperbole here, an exaggeration for dramatic effect.
because the poet cannot see ten thousand daffodils just in one
glance. But, he makes this exaggeration because he is influenced
by the shiny appearance of the daffodils.

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“tossing their heads in sprightly dance”. Again, creating this
image, the personification of the daffodils ”dancing”. It also tells
us that they were tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Sprightly just means joyful and happy but again the word
„sprightly‟ is derived from the word “sprite”. And a sprite is like a
fairy or just a supernatural being. So again, the idea that these
daffodils are “tossing their heads in sprightly dance” links it to
angelic creatures.

Third Stanza

the poet starts to talk about the waves which are in the lake. The
waves, like the daffodils, are dancing. They are happy, therefore,
they are moving as if they were dancing in the lake besides the
daffodils. The joy of the waves exceeds the joy of the daffodils.
(The waves and the daffodils are personified as they feel joy)
But, the daffodils are happier than the waves. This scene affects
the poet and makes him happy.

So, in the company of happy daffodils and waves, the poet should
be happy like them. Everything in nature affects him, and makes
him happy.

Then he says “I gazed” and I gazed, he emphasizes how much he

was staring at them, he appreciated how beautiful they were.

fourth and final stanza

He takes us to his living room. We gone from being outside, in

nature to his house. He has gone from wandering around, being
lost and probably not so happy but upon seeing all the beautiful
daffodils he has become happy. He is now back on his couch and

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he says that he is lying there whether he being in “vacant”, which
means not occupied and not thinking at all, or in “pensive”, which
means really thinking hard about something, when he is in either
of those moods, he sees by his inward eye and imagination
something which gives him pleasure. He remembers the happy
dancing of the daffodils and waves while he is lying on his sofa.
As result, he becomes happy and his heart is filled with pleasure
and happiness.

This can be done only in his solitude (loneliness) which gives him a
chance to contemplate(‫)تأمل‬nature. Contemplation of nature is
the main source of happiness to all the romantic poets. So, his
contemplation of nature (the dancing of the daffodils and
waves)is the source of his happiness even he starts to dance with
the daffodils after his heart is filled with pleasure. This explains
the effect of nature on the poet. This poem represents the
beauty of nature and its effect on human beings.

Primary and the Secondary Imagination

The persona (poet) uses the primary and the secondary
imagination, which was fundamental in the romantic poetry. In
"The Daffodils", the primary imagination occurs when the
persona imagines himself as a cloud that saw a group of dancing
daffodils.

Then, the secondary imagination happens when he remembers

these daffodils while he was sitting on his couch and this memory,
of things that never happened, fills his heart with happiness.
Therefore, the secondary imagination is a sequence of the
primary imagination.

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Figures of speech:
Simile : as in “ I wandered lonely as a cloud “ and “Continuous as
the stars that shine “.

Metaphor: as in" What wealth the show to me had brought”

Personification : as in “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze ‟‟The

word "dance" is repeated 3 times in this poem. In the 1ststanza,
it denotes the happiness and liveliness of the flowers. In the 2nd
stanza, it creates a sense of harmonious relationship between
the daffodils and the waves. In the last stanza, it refers that
this harmony is advanced to include the poet himself.

Apostrophe: is when the speaker talks directly to someone who

isn‟t there or something that can‟t actually be talked to, “I saw a
crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; ”.The poet apostrophizes the
daffodils and describes them in their large number as a crowd of
people. Also , “In such a jocund company “The poets addresses
the flowers as human beings and describes them as a happy
company of good friends

City life vs. Nature Through

Through the lines, the shift of the poet feelings is very clear.
Firstly, he complains about the corrupted world, which lacks
cooperation and harmony, so he wanders lonely and hopeless. He
prefers to get away from other people as if being with them
brings him nothing but more sadness and loneliness.

However, seeing the golden daffodils cheered him up because

they welcomed him."A host, of golden daffodils" shows that the
poet ran away from city life and took nature as a shelter to

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protect him from the worlds corruption. The fact that the
daffodils are dancing with each others proves the harmonious
relationships, which exists even with other natural elements like
the trees and the waves. This scene changes the poet feelings
from loneliness and sadness because of the corrupted world to
company and joy because of the beauty and purity of the nature.

characteristics of the romantic literature shown in

the daffodils
Firstly, the romantic poetry was based on the theme of rejecting
city life and going back to Mother Nature. Actually, some critics
accused these poets of being escapists because they left their
lives behind their backs instead of solving them.

Secondly, the romantic poets thought that they could see more
and better than ordinary people did because they had deeper
emotions. This was proven when the persona said, "Ten thousand
saw I at a glance".

Thirdly, the poets uses the primary and the secondary

imagination, which was fundamental in the romantic poetry.

Finally, The general atmosphere of the poem begins with sadness

and agony, but changes into happiness and joy. This atmosphere is
emphasized through the choice of words. Firstly, the words were
negative and unpleasant such as "wandered" and "lonely". They
point out the sense of isolation. However, these words change to
be more positive and cheerful as in "dancing", "stars that shine",
"gay", …etc