Literary Terms (Daffodils):

SIMILE: A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with

another thing of a different kind.

1. (I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD) –

The poet has compared himself to a cloud using „as‟.

2. (CONTINUOUS AS THE STARS THAT SHINE) –

In the above extract the poet has compared the flowers with the shining stars on
the Milky Way. These are example of simile.

METAPHOR: A metaphor is a way of describing someone or something by

showing their similarity with something else.

1. (WHAT WEALTH THE SHOW TO ME HAD BROUGHT) –

Here, the “wealth” refers to the happiness and the pleasant memory of the
daffodils which the poet considers as bliss of solitude.

2. (AND FLASHES IN MY INWARD EYE)

Here inward eye means the eye of our mind so it‟s a metaphor

PERSONIFICATION: The attribution of a personal nature or human

characteristics to something non-human.

1. (FLUTTERING AND DANCING IN THE BREEZE

TOSSING THEIR HEADS IN SPRIGHTLY DANCE
OUT-DID THE SPARKLING WAVES IN GLEE) –

All the above lines are personification of the flowers.

2. THE WAVES BESIDE THEM DANCED –

Wordsworth has personified the waves in this line.

3. WHEN ALL AT ONCE I SAW A CROWD,

A HOST, OF GOLDEN DAFFODILS -

Here a crowd and a host is a humane thing. So the poet personifies the daffodils.
HYPERBOLE: The definition of hyperbole is “exaggerated statements or
claims not meant to be taken literally.”

1. (WHEN ALL AT ONCE I SAW A CROWD /

TEN THOUSAND SAW I AT A GLANCE) –
In the two examples above, the poet has used „crowd‟ and „ten thousand‟ to
mean a lot of daffodils. But he must not have counted them there at a glance.
This is an obvious exaggeration.

ALLITERATION: The repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two

or more neighboring words or syllables (such as wild and woolly, threatening
throngs).

1. (BESIDE THE LAKE, BENEATH THE TREES,

AND DANCES WITH THE DAFFODILS) –
The repetition of the sounds „B’ and „D‟ in above lines are examples of
alliteration.