In this Article, today we will discuss about the Daffodils, the most beautiful poem of nature poet William Wordsworth. It\s full title is –“I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud” but this poem also known as “Daffodils”.   It is a Lyric poem. The poem was inspired by an actual event on 15 April 1802 in which Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came across a “long belt” of Daffodils while wandering in the forest. In this Article we will consider the Text of the poem, summary of the poem and critical appreciation of the poem.  


I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud

By William Wordsworth  


I Wondered 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 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 passive 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.

Summary of the poem ‘Daffodils’

William Wordsworth was one of the most famous poets of romantic age. He was the founders of English Romanticism.  He is remembered as a poet of nature and worshipper of nature. His poem The daffodils is a simple poem which is full of emotion and elaborates his poetic theory and practice. It is a simple observation of the ordinary objects seen by William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy while returning to their home in Grasmere after having paid their visit to their friend's house. On the way they suddenly saw the Daffodils growing on the shore of lake Ullswater. The scene of daffodils dancing in the breeze was so enchanting that both gave their attention to it. the poet wondered alone like a patch of cloud. Then he sees a large number of Daffodils by the side of the Ullswater Lake. These flowers look like the stars that shine constantly in the sky in the form of Milky Way. The waves of the lake dance side by side with the daffodils. He sees them continuously and preserves he memory. The sight of daffodils is imprinted on his mind. When he lies in a vacant or passive mood, he recalls the scene of daffodils in his mind. When he recalls in memory, he gets the same pleasure which actually observed or experienced. Wordsworth’s tranquillising influence of nature is expressed I his poem when he says “my heart beats up when I behold a Rainbow in the sky.”

At the end we can say that daffodils talk about how nature and memory were very close to the heart of the worshipper of nature Wordsworth. He provided a very nice message to all the people that who is close to nature and enjoys in its company never feel depressed or lonely. Nature is the best gift or blessing to mankind. It has power to heel our miseries and make us lively again. 

 

Critical appreciation

In this critical appreciation we will see the ornament of this poem as- rhyming scheme, form of the poem, metre, figures of speech used in this poem, imagery etc.

Rhyming scheme

In this poem we can see the rhyming scheme ‘ABABCC. The daffodil has a rhyming scheme throughout the poem.

Meter

It is considered that metre is the most important element in the verse. ‘Daffodils’ is in a form of 6 lines stanza, each line having an Iambic tetrameter. The word Iamb means unstressed-stressed syllables and tetra means four. Out of four syllables in a line, when an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable, is called iambic tetra meter.

Form

The four six- line stanzas of’ daffodils’ follow a quatrain-couplet rhyming scheme: ABABCC. Each line is metered in iambic tetrameter.

Figures of speech

In this poem I usually found the personification and simile, as I saw –I wondered lonely as a cloud. In the second line when poet says I look down at the valleys and mountains and appreciate daffodils, here is the again personification, where an inanimate object (cloud) possesses the quality of human enabling it to see the daffodils.

In this line –“ten thousand saw I at a glance” is an exaggeration and a hyperbole.


Imagery

 In this poem we saw lake, field s, trees, and stars in Ullswater. Poet praises the flower and compeers it with the milky way. The poem starts in a pessimism (poet’s loneliness) and end in optimism (pleasure of gazing daffodils). Thus, poet’s imagination is a major factor of romanticism. 

      

Some Question answer about ‘Daffodils’

  • What is the inward eye?

        The inward eye is like a flash which is the bliss of solitude because it gives the happiness to the             poet even in seclusion.

  • What was the poet’s first reaction?

        The first reaction was amazing as he sought difference between the daffodils and the waves.

  • What were those daffodils doing?

        The daffodils were fluttering and dancing in the breeze. They imparted to the poet.

  • What was the old name for daffodil?

        The old name of daffodils is ‘NARCISSUS’, named after the beautiful youth in Greek Mythology,         who was tricked into falling in love with his own reflection.

 

  • Why are daffodils referred to as golden?

        The daffodils flower grew beneath the trees along the edge of a lake and its colour was yellow. It             was shining in the sun like gold, poet referred it as golden.

  • What is the message for mankind in ‘Daffodils’?

        In this poem poet tells us that if we attached with nature, it never harms us. it gives us metal peace         and pleasure to our body. nature is the source of never-ending joy.

Conclusion

In this way we can say that undoubtedly words worth was one of the founders of English Romanticism and its most central figures and important intellects. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and nature poet. The daffodils is his best poem. thus ‘the daffodils is one of the most representative and charming lyrical poem of words worth.