I wandered Lonely as a Cloud
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”is one of the most famous and best-loved poems,
written in the English language. It was composed by Romantic poet William
Wordsworth around 1804, though he subsequently revised it. The poemi s based on
one of Wordsworth’s own walks in the countryside of England’sLake District. During
this walk, he and his sister encountered a long strip of daffodils. In the poem , these
daffodils have a long lasting effect on the speaker, firstly in the immediate
impression they make and secondly in the way that the image of them comes back
to the speaker’s mind later on.
“I Wantered Lonely as a Cloud” is a quintessentially Romantic poem, bringing
together key ideas about imagination , humanity and the natural world. Considered
one of the most significant examples of Romantic poetry, The poems explores the
relationship between nature and humanity. In doing so , it makes two key points.
Firstly, it argues that humanity is not separate from nature , but rather part of it.
And secondly, it suggests that the natural world and a strong bond with it is
essential to human happiness. Though the reader might be fooled by the suggestion
of solitude in the title. This is an optimistic poem with a positive outlook on the
world. This happiness is drawn from the speaker’s interaction with nature , in turn
encouraging the reader to appreciate the natural majesty that is alla round them.
Three different aspects of nature are personified in the poem. The first
personification occurs in the first line. It’s subtle, because it’s wrapper up in the
speaker comparing themselves to a cloud -which is , in fact, the reverse of
personification. The personification helps to link the human speaker with the
natural environment in which they walk.
The main personification applies to the daffodils.They are described as a “crowd”
and a “host” and on three occasions they are said to be “dancing”. Dance is
particulary important people dance as an expression of joy, and as a method of
togheterness.Dance ha salso played a key role in human history as a ritualistic
expression of spirituality. As the poem is about joy, togetherness with nature , and
a spiritual way of seeing humankind’s place in nature , the projection of dancing
movement onto the daffodils reinforces all of these ideas.
The third personification is in line13, when the waves are also described as dancing.
Here , there is a sense that the speaker is perceiving nature in motion , and though
the daffodils “outdo” the waves in joyfulness, the overall effect is that the entire
scene contains an essence fundamental to human happiness.
