Daffodils

-William Wordsworth-
 Daffodils
-William Wordsworth-

• The Romantic poet William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a

Cloud”, also known as “The Daffodils”.
• The poem was written in 1804, inspired by an event on 15 April 1802,
in which Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came across a “long belt”
of daffodils while travelling in the Lake District of England.
• It was first published in 1807 in “Poems in Two Volumes” and a
revised version was published in 1815.
• The original title of the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is
merely the first line of the poem.
 Daffodils
-William Wordsworth-
I wandered lonely as a cloud Continuous as the stars that shine
That floats on high o'er vales and hills. And twinkle on the Milky Way,
When all at once I saw a crowd, They stretched in never-ending line
A host, of golden daffodils; Along the margin of a bay:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
 Daffodils
-William Wordsworth-
The waves beside them danced, but they For oft, when on my couch I lie
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: In vacant or in pensive mood,
A poet could not but be gay They flash upon that inward eye
In such a jocund company; Which is the bliss of solitude;
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought And then my heart with pleasure fills,
What wealth the show to me had And dances with the daffodils.
brought:
 Daffodils
-William Wordsworth-
4
• The poem has _______stanzas of six lines.
24 lines.
• The entire poem has __________
Romantic
• This poem is a representative of _____________period in English
literature.
ABABCC
• The rhyme scheme for each stanza is __________
Example
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)
Discuss in group

1. The biography of William Wordsworth (including main

information in 1 slide)
2. Summarize the poem
3. Explain the meaning of each stanza
4. Analyze Figures of speech in the poem
William Wordsworth
(1770 – 1850)

Biography
Read Textbook page
83-85
 Summary
The poet described a speaker walking alone in a hilly landscape. During this walk, the
speaker discovers a large number of golden daffodils which are growing on the bank
of the lake under the trees. They are moving in the breeze.
Because there are so many of them, they remind the speaker of the Milky Way, a
galaxy containing a huge number of stars. As far as the poet can see, he finds only
the daffodils growing along the margin of a bay in very large numbers. All of these
flowers are tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The speaker notices that the flowers move more than the rippling waves of the
nearby lake. The beauty of the golden daffodils is so attractive and charming that it
easily surpasses the beauty of the dancing and sparkling waves. The poet feels
happy and blessed in such an enchanting and cheerful company. He considers
himself fortunate and very happy that he has been the witness to such a wonderful
sight of the daffodils.
When at home, lying on his couch, the speaker often recalls the sight of the daffodils.
He draws a lot of pleasure from this inner image.
In this stanza, the poet has
compared himself to a solitary I wandered lonely as a cloud
cloud. Just like a cloud floats over That floats on high o'er vales and
hills and valley, the poet has been hills.
walking across the countryside When all at once I saw a crowd,
without any aim. Suddenly, while A host, of golden daffodils;
walking beside a lake, he saw a Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
large number of golden daffodils Fluttering and dancing in the
that were 'fluttering and dancing' breeze.
in the breeze. They were spread
out in long rows along the border
of the lake and looked very
happy. The flowing breeze made
the daffodils flutter and it seemed
as if they were dancing.
In this stanza, the flowers are
compared to the stars. Just like Continuous as the stars that shine
stars, the daffodils were shining And twinkle on the Milky Way,
as they were golden in colour and They stretched in never-ending line
were twinkling as they were Along the margin of a bay:
fluttering in the breeze. The poet Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
says that the daffodils were Tossing their heads in sprightly
stretched in a never-ending dance
(continuous) line and they were
visible as far as he could see
along the shore-line of a bay. He
further says that the daffodils
were tossing their heads as if
they were dancing in happiness.
The poet says that there were
waves that were dancing in the The waves beside them danced,
lake but were no match for the but they
waves of daffodils rippling in the Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
breeze. The joyful dance of
A poet could not but be gay
daffodils was a way better than
theirs. The joyful company of In such a jocund company;
daffodils was the ultimate source I gazed--and gazed--but little
of pleasure for the poet and he thought
can feel nothing but happiness in What wealth the show to me had
that company. Although, he kept brought:
on looking at the daffodils but he
could not fully appreciate the
scenery before him because it
was in abundance and he could
take away just a little bit of it.
In the final stanza, the poet says
that whenever he lies on his For oft, when on my couch I lie
couch and is in low spirits or In vacant or in pensive mood,
when he is sorrowful, the sight of They flash upon that inward eye
the daffodils flashes in his mind Which is the bliss of solitude;
and becomes the source of joy in And then my heart with pleasure
his solitude. The memory of fills,
daffodils takes away all his And dances with the daffodils.
sorrows and boredom thus
making him happy and it seems
to him as if his heart is dancing
with the daffodils.
 Figures of speech
• Simile: Simile is a direct comparison between two different
things using ‘as’ or ‘like’.
• Personification: make things, ideas or animals do
something only humans do
• Hyperbole: making exaggerated statements or claims not
meant to be taken literally
• Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds in the
same line or in stressed syllables of nearby words..
• Consonance: The repetition of consonants (or consonant
patterns) especially at the ends of words
• Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds 
• Enjambment: a line of poetry carries its idea or thought
over to the next line without a grammatical pause
• Caesura: a pause in a line of poetry
 Analyze Figures of speech

• Simile: occurs twice in the poem.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
In the above line, the poet has compared himself to a cloud
using ‘as’.
Continuous as the stars that shine
In the above extract the poet has compared the flowers with
the shining stars on the Milky Way
• Personification
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils
personification of the flowers
The waves beside them danced;
personification of the waves
• Alliteration
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
And dances with the daffodils
The repetition of the sound “b” and “d”
• Assonance
A host, of golden daffodils; /o/
They stretched in never-ending line /e/
• Consonance
I wandered lonely as a cloud /d/
• Hyperbole
When all at once I saw a crowd,
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
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.
They stretched in never-ending line
The poet has made an overstatement when he saw the
flowers stretched in a vast area.
• Enjambment: It is found between lines 1 and 2, 7
and 8, 9 and 10, 13 and 14, 17 and 18, 19 and 20,
and 21 and 22
Example
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills
• Caesura
Where Caesura appears in the poem
• Line 4: “,”
• Line 5: “,”
• Line 13: “;”
• Line 17: “—,” “—”
• Line 19: “,