I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud -William Wordsworth
Analyzing theme:
Nature has healing power for loneliness.
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.
In William Wordsworth’s ‘I
wandered lonely as a cloud’, the author describes his thoughts as if writing a journal
for himself. Thoughout the poem, he emphasizes the great healing power of the nature,
and how it affected himself. The first line of the first stanza indicates his
extreme loneliness, for a cloud moves like a snail, not knowing where to go.
This lonely sentiment suddenly shatters apart when the author discovers a host
of beautiful daffodils that grabbed his attention. The first personification of
the daffodils on the last line of the first stanza shows how he is taking the
newly discovered daffodils, which is more delicately defined in the latter part
of the poem, telling the audience that these flowers became his mates who let
him forget his solitude.
After the stunning discovery, the author is getting
more and more mesmorized by the brightness and everlastingness of the
daffodils. By the third line of the second stanza, all he can see in his eyes
is a bunch of daffodils, and he finds these flowers so beautiful that they seem
to be ‘stars twinkling in the milky way’ and reach the number of ‘ten thousand
at a glance.’ Again, the author personifies the daffodils, describing them as
‘tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’
On the third stanza, the author continues to be
impressed and is enjoying the cheerful, swaying daffodils, from which he cannot
take his eyes off of. On the next, final stanza, he finally recognizes that his
loneliness is recovered by these beautiful daffodils, with his heart filled
with the most superb happiness.
It is not explicitly stated in the poem, but it
seems like the author had had an epiphany that he needed nobody around whenever
he was lonely; he needed nature beside him. A lot of people finds joy and
calmness from nature and enjoy it, while others prefer city life as they are
more accustomed to it. I personally agree with William as nature is not only more
quiet and calm, but it is also more likely to go with the flow, while in cities,
everyone endeavors to flow backwards.
