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Comprehension questions
1. Does the 4th stanza have the same setting as the other
three? Explain.
2. Analyze the poem in terms of meter and rhyme.
3. Pick out the figures of speech in the poem and explain.
4. What is the main idea of the poem?
DAFFODILS 5. There seem to be two different dancing competition in
the poem. What are they? Which one is the winner in
I Wandered Lonely each competition?
as aCloud 6. Explain the role imagination plays in this poem.
William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth
• One of the greatest romantic
poets in the 19 – century
England.
• Belongs to the Romantic school
William Wordsworth
of poetry → very interested in
- Born on April 17, 1770, just outside the Lake nature, which has a great effect
District in the quaint market town of Cocker on their poetry.
mouth, Cumbria.

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Setting and Background Information
The earlier version wrote in 1804, two years
after seeing the lakeside daffodils, published in
Poems in Two Volumes in 1807.
The final version was published in Collected
Poems in 1815.
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Setting and Background Information
The poem recaptures a moment on April 15,
1802, when Wordsworth and his sister,
Dorothy, were walking near Lake Ullswater in
Grasmere, Cambria County, England, and came
across a "long belt" of golden daffodils.
Summary of the poem
The poem talks about when the author was walking
around through the hills and valleys, but he felt lonely.
Suddenly, as he passes a lake, he saw a large number of
golden daffodils waving in the breeze. They look like a
continuous line of stars shining in the Milky Way.
The speaker’s loneliness was replaced by joy. Later,
whenever he is sad, he just thinks of the daffodils, and
his heart will fill with pleasure and he would to dance
along with the flowers.
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Sóng nhấp nhô theo hoa chung nhịp bước
Nhưng thủy tiên vẫn rực rỡ bội phần,
Một bài thơ muôn đời không tả xiết
Sự hòa huyện tuyệt sắc của thiên nhiên,
Tôi ngẩn ngơ ngắm nhìn rồi ngẩm nghĩ
Còn gì bằng được đến với ngàn hoa.
Rồi hằng đêm nơi trường kỷ tôi nằm
Nghe tâm thức trầm tư và trống rỗng,
Bỗng vụt sáng hàng thủy tiên trong mắt
Xóa cô đơn và hạnh phúc vô bờ,
Và tim tôi lại dâng tràn cảm xúc
Bước chân hoà theo điệu múa thuỷ tiên.
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Tôi lang thang như áng mây đơn dộc
Trôi bồng bềnh trên thung lũng núi đồi,
Tôi chợt thấy một rừng hoa sinh động,
Rừng thủy tiên rực vàng khoe sắc;
Bên bờ hồ và dưới những tán cây,
Đang nhảy múa, vỗ về cùng làn gió.
Cứ tiếp nối như ngàn sao tỏa sáng,
Lấp lánh trôi trên dãy ngân hà,
Trải dài theo đường chân trời bất tận,
Quanh mặt hồ bên bờ nước bao la;
Tôi đã thấy rừng hoa vàng nở rộ
Uốn mình theo vũ điệu thanh xuân.
Daffodils: Rhyme, Form & Meter
• Consists of four stanzas with six lines each,
for a total of 24 lines.
→ fairly simple form that fits its simple and
folksy theme and language.
• The rhyme scheme : ABABCC.
→ The last two lines of each stanza rhyme like
the end of a Shakespearean sonnet, so each
stanza feels independent and self-sufficient.
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Daffodils: Rhyme, Form & Meter
I wandered lonely as a cloud (A)
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, (B)
When all at once I saw a crowd, (A)
A host, of golden daffodils; (B)
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, (C)
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (C)
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.
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Figures of speech
STANZA 1
• I wandered lonely as a cloud
Simile: The poet compares himself to a cloud
walking without an aim.
a cloud <> lonely?
→ the author’s own loneliness
• That floats on high o’er vales and hills.
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Alliteration: same sound ‘h’, ‘b’
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STANZA 1
‘a crowd’, ‘a host’, ‘golden daffodils’
Metaphor: The poet compares the yellow
daffodils to a crowd of people, a host of angels,
and to gold in their bright color
‘Fluttering and dancing’
Personification: The poet personifies the
daffodils to people who can move and dance.
STANZA 2
‘Continuous as the stars’
Simile: The poet compares the daffodils to stars in
their huge number and their shiny appearance.
‘never-ending’, ‘ten thousand’
Hyperbole (exaggeration): this can’t be strictly
true: all good things come to an end.
‘Tossing their heads’
Personification: The poet personifies the daffodils
as human beings moving their heads quickly.
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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 thousands saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
STANZA 3
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought
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STANZA 3
STANZA 4
‘The waves…danced’ & ‘outdid…in glee’
Personification: The poet personifies the waves as For oft, when on my couch I lie,
human beings dancing and feeling happy. In vacant or in pensive mood,
‘gazed… gazed’ They flash upon that inward eye
Repetition: emphasize the sheer beauty of the Which is the bliss of solitude;
natural colour And then my heart with pleasures fills,
Alliteration And dances with the daffodils.
-Line 1: The ‘b’ sound as
-Line 1: The ‘th’ sound
-Line 6: The ‘w’ sound

SYMBOL
STANZA 4 AND IMAGERY

Alliteration
-Line 1: The ‘o’ sound
-Line 3: The ‘th’ sound
• The Daffodils
-Line 6: The ‘d’ sound as in dances, and daffodils. • Clouds, Sky, and Heavens
• Angels and Spirits
Personification
‘my heart …. dances with the daffodils’.
The poet personifies his heart as a human being
who is dancing