I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
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"The Daffodils" is an 1804 poem by William Wordsworth. It was inspired by an April 15, 1802 event in which Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy came across a "long belt" of daffodils. It was first published in 1807, and a revised version was released in 1815. In anthologies the poem is sometimes titled "I wandered lonely as a cloud."
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[edit] Original Poem
'"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (The Daffodils)" by William Wordsworth
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.
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 thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
in such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
what wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
[edit] Summary
Like the maiden's song in "The Solitary Reaper," the memory of the daffodils is etched in the poet's mind and soul to be cherished forever. When he's feeling lonely, dull or depressed, he thinks of the daffodils, and cheers up. The full impact of the daffodils' beauty (symbolizing the beauty of nature) did not strike him at the moment of seeing them, when he stared blankly at them but much later when he sat alone, sad and lonely and remembered them.
The inspiration for the poem may have been a walk he took with his sister Dorothy around Lake Ullswater. Dorothy later wrote in reference to this walk:
I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing. (Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journal)
[edit] Rhyme Scheme
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
Continuous as the stars that shine D
And twinkle on the milky way, E
They stretched in never-ending line D
Along the margin of a bay: E
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, F
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. F
The waves beside them danced; but they E
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: G
A poet could not but be gay, E
In such a jocund company: G
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought H
What wealth the show to me had brought: H
For oft, when on my couch I lie I
In vacant or in pensive mood, J
They flash upon that inward eye I
Which is the bliss of solitude; J
And then my heart with pleasure fills, B
And dances with the daffodils. B
A. Cloud, crowd
B. Hills, daffodils, fills, daffodils
C. Trees, breeze
D. Shine, line
E. Way, bay, they, gay
F. Glance, dance
G. Glee, company
H. Thought, brought
I. Lie, eye
J. Mood, solitude
The story is told in retrospective
[edit] Popular Usage
The poem is covered and taught in the 7th grade English textbook of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board of Education of India. It is also part of the English Literature GCSE course in some British examination boards.
The poem was also used in the movie The Namesake recited by Ashima Ganguli.
Because it is one of the best known poems in the English language and is also unabashedly romantic and sentimental, it has frequently been the subject of parody. Some recent examples can be found here, here, here, and here.
[edit] The Wordsworth Rap
In 2007, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, arguably Wordsworth's most famous poem, was given the ‘rap’ treatment, for the bicentenary year of its publication. The words were re-worked and given a backing track so the poem could be sung as a rap. This was done by the Cumbria tourist board, in an effort to draw younger visitors to the Lake District.[1]
The rap video was shot on the banks of Lake Ullswater which provided the original inspiration for the poem, particularly around Sharrow Bay and featured a giant squirrel known as MC Nuts mouthing the words. This particular addition, some have felt, was bizarre.[2]
The team responsible claims that the re-working of the poem stays true to the original sentiment but contains a slight variation of the lyrics. The rap attempts to make the works of Wordsworth relevant to a new, younger audience, and show how modern-day rap and its clever use of wordplay is a distant relative of poetic rhyming verse. The new rap was welcomed by the Wordsworth Trust.[3]
However, the reworking has been criticised by some, as Wordsworth himself disapproved of tourism, in 1844 sending the prime minister a poem that condemned the proposed railway to Windermere, that now bring tourists to the lakes. [4]. Additionally, satirical panel show Have I Got News For You openly mocked the reworking in the episode broadcast on BBC 1 on April 13 2007.
You can listen to the ‘Daffodil Rap’here.
[edit] References in Popular Art
–On progressive rock band Genesis's album 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,' the first part of the song 'The Colony of Slippermen,'
named 'The Arrival,' begins with a very clear reference to Wordsworth's poem; the first lines are:
I wandered lonely as a cloud
Till I came upon this dirty street
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet,
Continually pacing,
With nonchalant embracing,
These lines have the same rhyme scheme, and even the same beginning line as the original poem.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Wordsworth Trust
- "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud", interpretative video and song at Cumbria Tourism.
