William Wordsworth Poet and Poems

Life Experience William Wordsworth (1770-1850) Attended Cambridge University Toured in European continent and stayed in France for a short while. In favor of the French Revolution at first, but turned against it when horrified by the bloodshed it entailed.

Writings Lyrical Ballad (1798, in collaboration with Coleridge). Second edition of Lyrical Ballad with a Preface (1800): the manifesto of the Romanticism The Prelude: a long autobiographical poem. Lucy Poems The Recluse隐士

Theory of Poetry In Preface to Lyrical Ballad, Wordsworth’s most important theoretical writing on poetry, Wordsworth emphasizes: The theme is to be incidents and situations chosen from common life; The language used is to be a selection of language really used by men;

Theory of Poetry The treatment of the ordinary theme requires unusual way of presentation; The poet should find universal rules in the chosen incidents and situations. All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling” and “it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”

I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud simile The imagery of the lonely man 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. The imagery of the daffodils in good company and lively and joyous state: sharp contrast with the first imagery personification

Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, simile 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. hyperbole personification

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: The overflow of powerful feeling, overwhelmed The power of nature The healing power of nature: lonely vs. gay

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. The recollected emotion in tranquility and the wealth brought to the speaker by nature

Rhyming Scheme of the Poem The poem has a rhyming scheme throughout the poem. The rhyming scheme of the above stanza节，段 is ABAB ( A - cloud and crowd; B - hills and daffodils) and ending with a rhyming couplet CC (C - trees and breeze).

Figures of Speech Used in Daffodils The first line makes nice use of personification and simile. The poet assumes himself to be a cloud (simile) floating in the sky. When Wordsworth says in the second line 'I' (poet as a cloud) look down at the valleys and mountains and appreciate the daffodils; it's the personification, where an inanimate object (cloud) possesses the quality of a human enabling it to see the daffodils. The line "Ten thousand saw I at a glance" is an exaggeration and a hyperbole, describing the scene of ten thousand daffodils, all together. Alliteration is the repetition of similar sounds, is applied for the word 'h', in the words - high and hills.

The Imagery of the Poem: in Contrast The man: Lonely as a cloud A crowd, a host The dancing daffodil Stars in the milky way

The Imagery of the Poem The waves: sparkling and dancing The narrator Solitude at the beginning Gay and wealthy at the end

The imagery of the poem The poem paints images of lakes, fields, trees, stars in water. Wordsworth continuously praises the daffodils, comparing them to the Milky Way galaxy (in the second stanza), their dance (in the third stanza) and in the concluding stanza, dreams to join the daffodils in their dance. The poem uses descriptive language throughout the stanzas. The poet cannot resist himself from participating in the dance of the daffodils. The wording is simple and melodious.

The Theme of the Poem Nature’s healing power. The memory of the daffodils is etched in the speaker'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. is a collection of human emotions inspired by nature that we may have neglected due to our busy lives. The daffodils imply rebirth, a new beginning for human beings, blessed with the grace of nature. The arrival of daffodils in the month of March is welcome and an enjoyable time to appreciate them! A sample of the poet’s theory of poetry: the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.