I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud 

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. 

Structure of the poem

The poem is composed of four stanzas of six lines each that follow a quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme: ABABCC. Each line is metered in iambic tetrameter.

 

Summary of the poem

The poem begins with the poet wandering aimlessly beside a lake just like a cloud over the hills. He was walking alone. Suddenly he saw a large number of golden daffodils beside the lake. The flowers were ‘fluttering and dancing’ in the breeze. The daffodils were numerous and spread along extensive sides of the lake. The daffodils were shining and twinkling as the stars in the Milky Way. The flowers were beautiful and full of life. The waves in the bay were dancing but the daffodils were far more enchanting than waves. Having such a beautiful and cheerful companion the poet felt very happy. So he stared and stared and remained enthralled by their beauty. In the last stanza the poet describes about the beautiful experience he had. Whenever he lies lonely and feels low, the memory of his encounter gives him immense pleasure. Thus, it is like a treasure and a source of joy for the poet.

 

Critical analysis

The poem was written in the year 1802. It was first published in Poems in Two Volumes, in 1807.

The very starting line of the poem “I wandered lonely as a cloud” informs the poet’s profound sentiments of being left alone. It was actually the death of his brother John that led him to “loneliness”. We should remind the readers that this poem was not a result of imagination. Dorothy, Wordsworth’s sister, in her journal, Grasmere, provides us an explanation of the occasion which inspired Wordsworth to produce this masterpiece.

The poem was written at the Lake District of Northern England. Wordsworth is also famous as a Lake Poet. The poet compares himself to a cloud that presents the idea of solitude.  It indicates the relationship between human and nature. The tone is typically romantic.