Poem: The Daffodils
English, 9th Grade
About the Author &
Poem
The Author of this Poem, William Wordsworth (17701850) was a great nature poet. He is well known for
his poems like “Tintern Abbey”, “Ode on Intimations
of Immortality” and other shorter poems like “The
Daffodils”, “The Solitary Reaper”, etc. He chose nature
and common man for the themes of his poems. He
wrote about natural objects in simple language and
with his eyes always fixed upon the object of his
description.
In this poem the poet describes how he could enjoy
the sight of daffodils even many days after he saw
them.
The Poem
I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high over 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 Poem Continued…
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparking waves in glee;
A poet could not but the 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 dance with the daffodils.
Glossary
• daffodils
•
•
•
•
•
vales
A host of
beneath
fluttering
Milky way
• Sprightly
• Outdo
: a kind of yellow flowers commonly
found in England and some other
European countries.
: valleys
: a large number
: under
: flapping in the air
: the white band of stars that can be
seen across the sky at night
: lively
: do better than
Glossary Continued…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sparkling
Glee
Gay
Jocund
Oft
Couch
Vacant
Pensive
Inward eye
Solitude
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
sending out flashes of light
feeling of joy caused by success
happy
cheerful
often
a bed
empty
sad, thoughtful
mind’s eye, imagination
being alone
Comprehension
• What does the poet compare himself to?
Ans: He compares himself to a cloud floating in the sky.
• What did he see all at once?
Ans: He saw a place full of daffodils
• What does he compare the daffodils to in the line beginning “Continuous …”?
Ans: He compares the daffodils to stars of the milky way galaxy
• What does he mean by “ten thousand”?
Ans: A very huge number of daffodils
• What mood of the poet does the line “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”
suggest?
Ans:On seeing the daffodils the poet feels happy
Comprehension
• What seemed more joyous, the waves or the daffodils?
Ans: According to the poet the daffodils looked happier than the waves
• What is the meaning of “wealth” in line 18?
Ans: It means that the poet felt that seeing this beautiful place had created a
lasting impression in him and it was very important to him.
Exercise
Read the following extracts and answer the questions
that follow:
• “When all at once I saw a crowd”
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Who does “I” refer to?
Refers to the poet
What crowd did the speaker see?
Daffodils
When did he see the crowd?
When he was wandering around, suddenly he came upon this sight.
Where did he see them?
Beside the lake and below the trees.
Exercise
Read the following extracts and answer the questions
that follow:
• “Ten thousand saw I at a glance”
–
–
–
–
–
–
What did the speaker see?
He saw a huge number of daffodils
Were they ten thousand in number?
No.
What does it denote?
It means that there were a large number of daffodils
Exercise
Read the following extracts and answer the questions
that follow:
•
“I gazed – and gazed – but little thought”
– What did the speaker gaze at?
– A sea of daffodils
– Why was he in such a state?
– The sight was very overwhelming and hence he could not think beyond it at
that moment.
– Why do you think the word ‘gazed’ is repeated?
– To stress on the fact that the poet was caught by the sight of the daffodils and
couldn’t move his attention elsewhere.
Exercise
Read the following extracts and answer the questions
that follow:
•
“They flash upon that inward eye”
– What does they refer to?
– Daffodils
– What do you mean by ‘inward eye’?
– In the poet ‘ s mind , when he is at his house thinking about the daffodils.
– Whose ‘inward eye’ is referred to?
– The poet’s inward eye is referred to here.
Exercise
Answer the following questions in two or three sentences each:
• How does the poet wander?
• The poet wanders lonely like the clouds that go over the hills.
• Where does he see the daffodils?
• He sees the daffodils beside the lake and below the trees.
• How does he describe the daffodils in stanza two?
• He liken the daffodils to the stars of the milky way that
twinkle.
Exercise
Answer the following questions in two or three sentences each:
• Why could the poet not but be gay?
• The poet looks at the daffodils and the waves feels they are
very happy and are smiling at him and hence he too feels
happy being there.
• When do the daffodils flash upon the poet’s inward eye?
• When he is lying on a couch at his house , thinking deeply
then the picture of the daffodils flashes in his mind.
• What effect does it have on him?
• It makes him feel very happy and makes him want to dance
with happiness
Appreciation
• What are the different words / expressions used to describe
the daffodils?
• The poet compares the daffodils to stars of the milky way
galaxy that twinkle in the night.
• We find the word ‘dance’ in every stanza. What does it tell us
about the poet’s mood?
• The poet is in a happy mood and feels very connected to the
nature around him. He is touched by the natural beauty of the
flowers around him
Appreciation
•
Make a list of rhyming pairs of words.
•
•
•
cloud , crowd
hills , daffodils
trees, breeze
•
•
•
shine , line
way, bay
glance, dance
•
•
•
they , gay
glee , company
thought , brought
•
•
•
lie, eye
mood, solitude
fills, daffodils
Appreciation
•
What are the words / phrases used to express that the daffodils were innumerable
in number?
•
“When all at once I saw a crowd” ,“Ten thousand of them at a glance” indicates
that there were a large number of daffodils
Study the lines: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, “Continuous as the stars that
shine”. In each of the above lines we find a comparison. Such a comparison is
•
called a ‘Simile’
Further Activity
• Read: Lotus by Toru Dult.