Daffodils
- William Wordsworth
Background of the Poem
On April 15, 1802 Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy went to their friends, the
Clarksons, at Eusemere. When they were coming back to Grasmere, they saw a large
number of golden daffodils growing on the bank of a lake Ullswater in the Lake district.
They both were astonished by the mesmeric beauty of these daffodils which were
fluttering and dancing with the light breeze. Inspired by this delightful spectacle
Wordsworth composed this poem in 1804 and published it in 1807
Summary
The poet is alone and having nature in mind wandering from one place to
another like a cloud which flies over vales and hills with the wind. All of a sudden he
sees a large number of golden daffodils which are growing on the bank of the lake
under the trees. A light breeze is blowing, making the daffodils flutter and dance with it.
For the poet, the view of these beautiful golden daffodils is similar to the stars
shining and twinkling in the milky-way. As far as the poet can see, he finds only the
daffodils growing along the margin of a bay and they seem to the poet to be in very
large numbers. All of these flowers are tossing their heads in a sprightly dance.
In the nearby lake, the waves are dancing with the wind and sparkling because of
the sun-rays falling on them. But the beauty of the golden daffodils is so attractive and
charming that it easily surpasses the beauty of the dancing and sparkling waves. The
poet feels happy and blessed in such an enchanting and cheerful company. The poet is
completely absorbed in the beauty of the daffodils and for the moment he has lost
touch with his surroundings. He considers himself fortunate and very happy that he has
been the witness to such a wonderful sight of the daffodils.
The last stanza of the poem is the most important part of the poem and is the
essence of the poem. In this stanza, the poet speaks about the healing and refreshing
effect of nature and also praises solitude. According to him, when one is in the state of
solitude, one becomes retrospective and meditates on all the good and pleasurable
moments which one had or which had happened to him-in his life. These memories
have a cheerful and lively effect on him. He greatly feels happy not only with himself but
also with all that happened to him. The poet says that whenever he lies on his couch
having nothing to do or in pensive mood, enjoying the solitude, the images of the
daffodils flash upon his imagination. When this happens, the poet feels calm, refreshed,
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motivated and good about himself. This is how nature influences him. The memories of
the daffodils fills his heart with pleasure and joy and he feels like dancing along with the
daffodils. This shows the healing and refreshing effect of nature on the poet
Theme
As for the theme, the poem is all about the beauty of nature. Wordsworth is often
termed a nature-lover. And the Romantic Movement that he started with Samuel Tailor
Coleridge is mainly characterized by the love and celebration of nature and beauty. This
poem is a representative of Romanticism in English literature.
Explanation of the poem
Stanza 1
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 poet was travelling aimlessly just like a cloud over the hills and valleys of the
mountainous Lake District in England. At that time, suddenly he came across a large
number of golden daffodils beside the lake and under the trees. The flowers were
‘fluttering and dancing’ in the breeze.
The poet directly compares himself to a cloud, as he was wandering without aim, just
like the clouds. This is an example of simile. He also uses the expressions like ‘crowd’
and ‘host’ to mean that he saw a large area covered with a whole lot of daffodils. In the
last line, the poet personifies the flowers by saying that they were fluttering (like birds or
butterflies) and dancing (like human beings). There is also an indication that it was a
breezy day. So we get an overall idea of the landscape which includes the valleys and
hills, the lake, the trees, the flowers beneath them and the breezy atmosphere.
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Stanza 2
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.
Here is another Simile. The flowers are compared to the stars. They stretched in a
continuous line just like the stars in a galaxy like the Milky Way. Moreover, the daffodils
were shining (as they were golden in colour) and twinkling (as they were fluttering in the
breeze) as the stars. This comparison with the stars may have a greater implication in
indicating that the flowers are heavenly as the stars.
The flowers were visible as far as the poet could see along the shore-line of a bay. That
is why he uses the phrase “never-ending line”. Here ‘continuous’ and ‘never-ending’ may
also suggest that the flowers left an everlasting impact on him.
Wordsworth exaggerates the number of flowers by saying “Ten thousand saw I at a
glance”. That indicates that the poet has never seen so many daffodils at once. So he is
just overjoyed. This type of exaggeration is called hyperbole
The poet also says that the daffodils were tossing their heads as if they were dancing in
happiness. Actually the poet was amazed at the beauty of the flowers. So, he found
everything around him joyful. All these references of dancing and tossing heads are
parts of his personification of the flowers.
Stanza 3
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 waves in the bay were dancing and looking gleeful at the atmosphere. But the
flowers outshone the lively waves in their happiness. Having such cheerful companion
like the daffodils, a poet like Wordsworth cannot help being happy. So he was gazing
constantly at the flowers and enjoying their beauty. The word ‘gazed’ is used twice to
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indicate how moved or charmed the poet was. So he gazed at them for a long time,
forgetting his surroundings.
At that time, he did not think much about the ‘wealth’ that the flowers had brought to
him. The poet realized that later, may be, after a few days. This ‘wealth’ is the happiness
and the pleasant memory that he enjoyed for a long time since the day.
Stanza 4
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.
By starting this stanza with ‘For’, the poet continues his reasoning for saying that the
flowers had brought him ‘wealth’. He clarifies why the sight of the flowers was so
important in his life. Whenever he lies on his bed in a vacant or thoughtful mood, the
daffodils flash upon his inner-eye, i.e., his imagination. The daffodils have become an
everlasting memory for the poet, whenever he is lonely. So, he calls it ‘a bliss of
solitude’, a blessing of staying alone.
And whenever he sees the flowers in his imagination, his heart fills with pleasure and his
mind dances with the dancing daffodils.
This shows the poet’s intense feelings. The poet has been able to depict the landscape
and express his mind so vividly in so simple language and form, that really draws one’s
attention. And that is why this poem has been one of the most read and mentioned
subjective poems in the history of English literature.
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Reference to Context
Extract 1
I wander’d lonely…….in the breeze.
1. Who has been referred to as ‘I’ in the first line of the extract? Where do you
think was he wandering?
The poet, William Wordsworth.
The poet William Wordsworth was wandering like a lonely cloud on the valleys and hills.
2. What does the poet encounter while wandering? Where does he
encounter them?
He encountered a large number of golden daffodils.
He sees them besides a lake and beneath the trees and along the margin of the bay
3. Why do you think the poet refers to the daffodils as golden?
Daffodils is given the colour of gold to indicate its splendour and richness. The
magnificent flowers portray lush beauty of the nature. The golden colour seen on the
daffodils is also due to the sun’s radiance. As the poem progresses, the mood of the
poet changes from seclusion to jubilance.
4.
Discuss the importance of the following lines with reference to the poem:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
These lines personify the beautiful daffodils. The poet sees the daffodils growing along
the margin of a bay, and they appear to be dancing and fluttering in the breeze. These
lines are important as it was the daffodils’ lively appearance that captivated the poet.
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5. Which figure of speech is used in the following lines? How many daffodils do
you think the poet saw? Give reason for you answer.
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,
Hyperbole. The poet saw a huge group of daffodils along the riverside which can be
deduced from the words, ‘crowd’ and ‘host’. Moreover, in a hyperbolic expression, he
said, “Ten thousand saw I at a glance.”
6. Why does the sight of daffodils come to the poet’s mind, later in the poem?
Daffodils describes the healing and revitalising power of nature. Thus, when the poet lies
down on the couch in a pensive mood the pleasant sight of the daffodils flashes upon
his inward eye. These refreshing thoughts have capacity to make him calm and happy in
when he is pensive and vacant . The poet who was lonely in the beginning of the poem,
experiences the ‘bliss of solitude’ by the end. The memory of the daffodils fills his heart
with joy and he feels that his heart is dancing with the daffodils. Thus the sight of the
daffodils came to the poet and worked as restorative in the real world of tensions and
traumas.
Extract 2
Continuous as the stars….in sprightly dance.
1. How are the daffodils compared to the stars?
Wordsworth is filled with joy on seeing the golden daffodils and has compared them to
the stars that shine in the Milky Way. The daffodils appeared to be stretched infinitely
along the margin of the bay, the poet in an instant glance, saw ten thousand daffodils
waving their heads, as if they were involved in sprightly dancing like the infinite stars in
moving in great velocity in the cosmos.
2. What is the milky way? Why is it referred to in the extract? (read only)
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. It is a band of light seen in
the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked
eye. The bountiful beauty of the daffodils stretched in never –ending along the side of
the bay is compared with the illimitable stars in the galaxy.
3. What is meant by the margin of the bay? (read only)
The margin of bay means that daffodils were spread endlessly along boundaries of the
bay. The word bay is used to denote lake. The poet mentions about the margin along
the side of the bay to make readers visualize the profuse growth of the daffodils.
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4. State how the technique of using exaggeration heightens the poetic effect in
the extract?
The daffodils appeared to be stretched infinitely along the margin of the bay.
It seems the poet was under the illusion that he was watching ten thousand daffodils;
swaying and fluttering their heads in a lively fiesta.
The effect of the daffodils was permanent, as when the poet lies down on the couch in
a pensive mood the pleasant sight of the daffodils flashes upon his inward eye and his
heart fills with joy and dances with the daffodils.
5. Briefly describe the musical quality of the extract. (read only)
Daffodils is a lyric poem.
The rhyming pattern followed in this poem is that in each stanza the first line rhymes
with the third; the second with the fourth; and the fifth with sixth. Each stanza ends with
a rhyming couplet.
Extract 3
The waves beside…….show to me had brought.
1. How did the daffodils outdo the waves?
The water in the lake had ripples looking like waves dancing. The daffodils tossing and
dancing like human beings seemed to be competing against these waves. According to
the poet, the daffodils defeated the waves in glee.
2. What is meant by jocund company? Which jocund company is the poet
referring to? Why does the poet find it jocund?
It means a happy and gleeful company.
The poet is referring to the jocund company of thousands of daffodils.
The beautiful daffodils dancing before the poet captivated him. It made him happy and
refreshed. It made him feel one with nature. That is why he finds their company jocund.
3. Which wealth referred to by the poet? Explain how the wealth was brought to
the poet?
The beauty of daffodils, mesmerized the poet and filled him with the immense wealth of
joy and peace.
The beautify of daffodils is referred to as wealth.
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The effect of the daffodils was permanent and everlasting. The poet kept glaring at the
beauty of the daffodils, hardly knowing what enormous treasure, sense of gratification
he was accumulating in his mind.
That beauty of the daffodils was soaked in the poet’s mind for an everlasting time. In
future, when the poet lied down on his couch, either in a lonely or a pensive mood, the
entire panorama that he saw appeared before his inward eye and his heart filled with
pleasure and danced with the daffodils.
4. How could you say that Wordsworth is a nature poet?
Wordsworth celebrates the magical quality of nature in his poem. He has used a number
of nature’s images like clouds, lakes, hills, stars etc. to depict the influence of man on
nature. According to him, nothing could be superior to nature. The poet who was lonely
in the beginning of the poem, experiences, “the bliss of solitude” in the end. He then
feels calm and rejuvenated, being close to nature. The nature influences him, the
memory of the daffodils fills his heart with joy and he feels as if his heart were dancing
with the daffodils.
Extract IV
For oft, when on my couch……… with daffodils.
1. What happens to the poet when the he lies on his couch in a pensive mood?
When the poet lied down on his couch, either in a lonely or a contemplative mood, the
entire panorama that he saw in the woods appeared before his inward eye. In solitude,
when his mind is restrained by disturbing elements of the real world, he revives the
memories of the daffodils. As soon as, the memory of that sight comes into view of the
poet, he is able to derive ecstatic pleasure which he had enjoyed actually
The image of the golden daffodils flash before him and change his mood into happy
one.
2. What is the ‘bliss of solitude’ referred to in the extract? How does the bliss of
solitude take place?
The bliss of solitude here refers to be the state of being happy even when some is alone,
as he has surplus of memories to cherish and make his present fun-filled. The bliss of
solitude take place when the poet is alone, lying on his couch in free and pensive mood,
the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him, flashes on his inward eye. The memories of
the beautiful flowers fill the poet’s heart with joy.
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3. Explain the transition from poet’s pensive mood to his heart filled with joy.
When he is in a pensive mood, the image of golden daffodils flashes before him and
changes his mood. The poet, who was lonely in the beginning of the poem, experiences
‘the bliss of solitude’ by the end. He then feels calm and refreshed. The memory of the
daffodils fills his heart with joy and he feels as if his heart were dancing with the
daffodils.
4. With reference to the last two lines of the extract, state the influence that
nature can have over an individual’s mind. (read only)
Nature becomes positive force for the poet. When the poet lies on his couch in a
contemplative mood, the image of dancing daffodils flashes before him, he is filled with
happiness. Thus, the very thought of being in the lap of nature uplifts the spirit.
The impact of nature is permanent and everlasting. The poem tells us that the
impressions of the beauty of nature were so strong that even after many years their
memory was more than enough to lighten his moods and gave him their company
when he was alone in the room. The dancing daffodils became the part of his being.
This poem evidently reflects that the nature has a power to heal the stressed out souls.
The beautiful sight has capacity to remove the stress and gloom from our minds. The
poet says that whenever he is in a sad mood the alluring scene of the daffodils fills his
mind with pleasure. This is what we feel when we are in the lap of nature. By just looking
at the starry sky, rising or setting sun, a garden, chirps of birds and hush greenery, he
forget all our hardships, pains and traumas of life.
Extra
1. What is the similarity in the stars and the daffodils?
Ans. The crowd of golden daffodils which the poet has seen by the side of the lake
under the trees represents that they are many in number. Hence, the daffodils are
compared to the stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a cluster of stars which
shines brightly in space. Just like the stars, the daffodils are also uncountable and are
dancing with energy and joy in a never-ending line. This is how the poet has shown a
similarity between the stars and the daffodils.
2. What does the poet mean by a jocund company?
Ans. When the poet saw the daffodils that stretched in a never-ending line, he was
pleased to see them dancing as the wind blew over them. There was a lake alongside
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the daffodils which had waves dancing in joy. The poet was bound to be happy in
such a joyful company of the daffodils and the waves. This is how the poet has
described his experience.
3. Explain the phrase ‘inward eye’ as used by the poet.
Ans. The poet feels spiritual connectivity with the beauty of the daffodils dancing in
the fields. The phrase ‘inward eye’ is referred to the imagination of the poet as he
pictures the dancing daffodils and shining waves which have become a beautiful
memory of his life. He uses this phrase as a metaphor in the poem as he imagines
the golden daffodils when in a low mood.
4. Name and explain the figure of speech used in the following lines:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Ans. Onomatopoeia
It is a figure of speech in which the sounds of the words convey the sense.
“Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”
Ans. Personification
The poet describes the daffodils as living beings tossing their heads and the human
quality of dancing is given to flowers.
“They stretched in never-ending line”
Ans. Hyperbole
The poet has used the effect of exaggeration of an idea for the sake of emphasis.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills
Ans. Simile
The poet likens himself to a wandering cloud.
Long Answer Questions (read only)
1. How has the poet described the influence of nature on humans?
Ans. William Wordsworth has used a number of images like clouds, lakes, hills, stars etc.
to depict the influence of nature on man. The poem begins with the poet wandering
lonely like a cloud. As soon as he sees the daffodils growing along the margin of the bay
fluttering and dancing, he is captivated by their beauty. The poet has compared himself
to a cloud and the daffodils have been personified as human beings dancing in tossing
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their heads in sprightly dance. This is how Wordsworth has depicted the inherent unity
between man and nature. He describes daffodils as the healing and refreshing power of
nature. The poet says that when he lies down on his couch in a pensive mood, the
images of golden daffodils splashes before him and changes his mood. The poet who
was lonely at the beginning of the poem experiences the bliss of solitude by the end of
the poem. He feels joyful and refreshed. This is how nature influences him. The memory
of daffodils fills his heart with joy and he feels as if his heart is dancing with the
daffodils.
At the beginning of the poem, the poet was floating high but emotionally was low.
However, at the end of the poem, the poet in spite of lying idle or pensive on the couch
was experiencing emotional bliss. This happened because of the influence of nature
which was so everlasting for the poet that he felt pleasure and bliss whenever he
remembers the experience.
2. What is the message conveyed in the poem?
The poem passes on the message that there is inherent unity between man and nature.
The poem brings home the idea that nature is source of eternal joy. Nature with its
enchanting effect captivates us all the time. The beautiful objects of nature like flowers,
plants mountains, lakes and stars, the moon and so on and so forth fill our mind with
immense gratification and jubilance Thus we should try to preserve it , in our greed for
development, we are turning our lands to concrete jungles resulting in more of physical
,mental and emotional woes. Therefore, we start valuing natural landscape compared to
mechanised city life.
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