Blanco 1

Alondra Blanco
Professor Holly Batty
English 102 (25031)
September 20, 2017
The Value that Nature Holds

When people grow up living in a big city with tall skyscrapers, busy streets, and foggy skies

they don't realize that they're missing out on a great deal of fortune that is both within their reach

and free of charge. Growing up I had heard a lot of people telling me that the greatest things in

life were free, but up until I fully read William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"

the only wealth that I had know was materialistic value. In Wordsworth's poem a scene of

daffodils is presented to the reader in great detail and anyone that doesn't read the poem carefully

will simply look at the poem as a nature scene, however the images described by Wordsworth

are enlaced with sentimental feelings and the utmost respect for nature. Although many argue

that something as simple as the sight of yellow daffodils are not to be considered valuable, I

suggest that perhaps an object with "real value" is classified as something that brings you

comfort and gratification. We will be able to identify the meaning of value by first understanding

what the poem is about, secondly by viewing why the author would think like this, and lastly by

comparing nature images from back then to the nature that we have now.

The title of the poem is the first sentence of the first stanza leading the reading straight into

the poem and not having them think too much about what the poem is going to be about. The

poem starts off using figurative language and uses a personification to describe how the narrator

was wandering in open territory very calmly, when all of a sudden he saw a A host, of golden

daffodils: (Wordsworth 4). The mentioning of the daffodils changes the tone of the poem from

calm to excited, the simple sight of them has now enlightened the narrator. He goes on to
 Blanco 2

compare their glow of the daffodils to stars, this also demonstrates the use of a metaphor as he is

saying that they are continuous as the stars that shine (Wordsworth 7). At this point one can

already begin to picture what the daffodils are like. The use of imagery describes where the

daffodils are located, what they look like, and how they move. Apart from what they they look

like the author wants to stimulate all of the senses a person has seeing them is not enough. The

way that they are described as moving, fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (Wordsworth 6)

make the reader not only see them move from side to side but to also feel the breeze that is

hitting the daffodils. The next few lines continue to do the same admiring the beauty of the actual

flower in stanza 3 the narrator finally acknowledges himself a poet could not but be gay,/ In

such a jocund company: (Wordsworth 15-16) I would say that for line 16 the author uses a

slight use of personification when referring to the daffodils as company and by referring to

himself the reader can now feel the joy that the narrator is feeling.

The meaning of wealth is also mentioned in stanza 16, describing how the flowers mean so

much more to the poet then leads on . Up until now wealth had not been mentioned but had been

described and now the author is making a connection with the two; What wealth the show to me

had brought: (Wordsworth 18). The way that wealth is described describes the beauty in what

the author sees. Yes there is no material wealth from looking at a scene of brightly colored

flowers and a river, or feeling the breeze on your face, but nature will provide you with these

thing for feel and make you feel delighted to be outdoors and taking in the sunlight, all of this for

no cost at all. The last stanza is no longer looking at the field but at a memory of the said

daffodil fields. The memory of the daffodils was so breath-taking that even when the narrator lies

on his couch In vacant or in pensive mood(s) (Wordsworth 20) he still looks back at the
 Blanco 3

memory of the daffodils and his ability to recreate the vision of them in his mind, bring him

great pleasure. What I get from this poem is that nature is a beautiful thing that in times of need,

can offer what material wealth can not and this is what I believe to be the theme of the poem.

By looking through Wordsworth point of view of the fields of flowers we are reminded of a

quote that also has to do with not understanding value, from Harper Lees novel To Kill a

Mockingbird, You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of

view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Well when I first read this poem I

pictured William Wordsworth to be bright spirited and to have lived a good life surrounded with

everything he has ever needed around him. However, that was not the case, the way that he looks

at the nature that is around him is because he himself didnt have much of anything growing up.

Having both his parents die when he was young must have taken a toll on him for the worst.

Apart from losing his parents, upon entering St. Johns College there really wasnt much he could

do to be able to run with the popular crowd that had money, his clothes plain and

unsophisticated, and his manner awkward, neither excelled as a scholar nor fitted smoothly into

fashionable social circles. This was enough for Wordsworth to understand the true meaning of

wealth. When your clothes and appearance arent enough to push you forward then they really

must not be as important as people make them out to be. Wordsworth later did come into some

money without having to resort to selfish ties or cruel ways and was left money upon a friend's

deathbed; when money no longer became an issue he could finally rent a cottage and recover

his peace of mind. With that being said, I think that given the author's history with losing his

parents and not having the best social life in his early years of ages that that is why he would

want to look at joyous things that have no value. He didnt have much to give and that is when
 Blanco 4

he realized that not all valuable things are materialistic. The way that nature is illustrated in his

poem explains what Wordsworth thought of nature and how it had was always there, offered to

all, instead of a selected few, and never turned anyone away, especially someone like

Wordsworth who had not much to offer.

In Wordsworths times (1770- 1850) there were so many things that could have influenced his

vision on why he looks at nature the way that he does. Maybe it was the fact that he didnt have

parents to guide him, or maybe it was the nature walks at school that helped him understand that

nature accepted him when wealth children did not. These could have all been tied together to

make him describe nature's beauty in such a caring way ,another major event that could have

influenced his perspective was the French Revolution. In times of war we often see the good and

bad of people from all over the world. I perhaps think that the perspective that Wordsworth had

of nature before war was a big part of viewing beauty, because if all you see is destruction and

turmoil during the war then it really can make a person appreciate the time from before, when

there was peace. Many people interpret war in different ways some people fall into the darkness

and continue to write about the gruesomeness that surround them, but others look past their

horrible present, and look at the beauty that still surrounds them. In a way I think that the French

Revolution inspired and motivated Wordsworth to keep the idea of beauty in his poems.

Nature was an important topic in I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and it really explained the

true meaning of value by giving descriptive vision of what the author was seeing. In the end

value is nothing more than something that brings joy to you in any time of need. It is different for

everyone, to some people its the sight of the first leaf that falls when fall is approaching and to

others it's walking into the mall with an unlimited credit card. Value is something that can be
 Blanco 5

materialistic whether it has sentimental value or actual value, but nature is something that come

without a price if looked at the correct way. So next time that that you pass a tree, field, or flower

bed remember that these are the real things that are free, that this type of beauty that is not

displaying in a magazine or have a price tag, but that will deliver wealth to you when you need it

most and help you come to joyous thoughts.

Work Cited

Aubrey, Bryan. William Wordsworth. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, Salem

Press, 2016. Ers,
library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=888
07542&site=eds-live. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017.

Overview: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. Poetry for Students, edited by Sara

Constantakis, vol. 33, Gale, 2010. Literature Resource Center,
 Blanco 6

library.lavc.edu:2077/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=lavc_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1430
007013&asid=627f04823f5le42c017c4b65c1998907. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Wordsworth, William. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth. Poetry

Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45521/i-wandered-lonely-as-
a-cloud.