The Daffodils by William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

The main idea :

The poet is a lover of nature. Nature brings pleasures and happiness to him .
The rhyme scheme ( ab ab cc)
1st 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. ( = gentle wind )

Paraphrase :
While the poet was walking alone without any aim like a cloud in the sky which
rises high over valleys and hills, he suddenly saw a group of golden daffodils .
They were under the trees, near the lake .They were moving and dancing in the
gentle air .

Figures of speech
1-Simile: as a cloud: He likens himself to a cloud.
2-Personification: " fluttering and dancing ": he gives the daffodils the image of
a human
3-Alliteration: ( high – hills ) ( beside- beneath )
The repetition of sounds makes music .
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2nd stanza
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay: ( = edge )
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. ( = actively )
Paraphrase :
The daffodils were shining like stars in the sky. The daffodils spread in a very
long line along the edge of the bay .The poet could see ten thousand of them in
one look . They were dancing actively.

Figures of speech
1-Simile: as the stars: he likens the daffodils to the stars in the sky.
2- Personification: "tossing their heads in a sprightly dance " He gives the
daffodils the image of a human .

3rd stanza
The waves beside them danced; but they a
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: b ( =shining in happiness )
A poet could not but be gay, a ( = very happy)
In such a jocund company: b
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought c
What wealth the show to me had brought: c

Paraphrase :
The waves in the lake were also dancing and beside the daffodils. But the
daffodils were better and happier . the poet himself couldn't do anything but
be so happy, as this scene brought him great happiness.

Figures of speech

1-Personification: " the waves beside them dance " He gives the waves the
image of a human.
2- Metaphor: " what wealth " He pictured the happiness as wealth.
3-Alliteration ; ( what wealth ) the repetition of the sound "w " makes a kind of
music .
4-Anastrophe : (the show to me had brought ) instead ( the show had brought to
me )
4th stanza
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood, ( = thinking mood )
They flash upon that inward eye ( = internal )
Which is the bliss of solitude; ( = the highest level of happiness )
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
Paraphrase :
The poet lies on his sofa while he is busy or free minded ., the daffodils appear
in his mind and they become happiness in his loneliness. His heart becomes full of
happiness and dances with the daffodils .

Figures of speech
1-Personification: " my heart dances with the daffodils "He gives the heart the
image of a human .
2-Metaphor : " my heart with pleasure fills " He pictured his heart as a container
that can be filled .
3-Alliteration : "dances –daffodils " the repetition of the sound makes music .

Prepared by Mrs. Salwa A. Hussein 01140469752

2022 January ‫صدقة على روح والدى…… فضال الدعاء له بالرحمه‬