Activity Sheets (Read the poem below)
By William Wordsworth
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.
By William Wordsworth
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
Mr. Rasmussen’s analysis of this poem:
host:
(Anjelic order)
combination of
nature and the
army.
immortality
Almost spellbound
(Simile)
I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
crowd: No order
A host, of golden daffodils;
golden means yellow
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. dancing: personification;
ordered pattern
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
immortality
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
heads, sprightly and dance:
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
personification
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:
jocund means happy
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought: wealth means gold
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.
bliss means ecstasy
Order: joining the dance
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth
1. First reading of the poem: Finding metaphors, similes, and personifications
Identify the simile(s), metaphor(s) and personification(s).
Simile:
Metaphor:
Personification:
2. Second reading of the poem: Vocabulary development
By using a dictionary define what each one of the italicized words mean in the poem.
a) That floats on high o'er vales and hills______________________________________
b) Along the margin of the bay______________________________________________
c) Tossing their heads in sprightly dance_______________________________________
d) In such a jocund company________________________________________________
e) What wealth the show to me had brought____________________________________
f) For oft________________________________________________________________
g) In vacant or in pensive mood______________________________________________
h) Which is the bliss of solitude _____________________________________________
3. Third reading of the poem: Understanding the poem (Use Mr. Rasmussen’s
analysis of the poem page 2 to help you with the next two sections)
By using contextual clues (re-reading each line and trying to figure out what the
words mean in the poem) explain what each one of the following lines mean.
Concentrate on the underlined words for accuracy of analysis.
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;
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milkyway,
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
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.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4. Fourth reading of the poem: Comprehension
In the space provided below, translate I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud. As you rewrite
the poem, you do not have to translate each word, but concentrate on creating a
well-thought out four (4) paragraphs that expresses, in prose form, what the poet
tried to tell his readers. Use all of the information that you have learned from
activities sheets.
Paragraph 1:
Paragraph 2:
Paragraph 3:
Paragraph 4:
5. Analyzing the organization of the poem - Awareness of structure
a) Stanzas 1 and 2 discuss the scene or setting of the poem. This is background
information that helps the reader make connections with the poet's mind. List the specific
details about the setting mentioned in stanza's 1 and 2.
Example: clouds floating over vales and hills
b) Stanza 3 explains how the poet felt, what he did, and how the scene affected him.
How did poet feel?________________________________________________________
What did poet do?________________________________________________________
How did the scene affect him?_______________________________________________
c) Stanza 4 delves into the reason the poet is writing about daffodils and lakes, vales
and hills. Analyze the connection the author is trying to make with you, the reader.
Especially look at the verbs he uses to create this feeling.
Where does he lie?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What flashes upon his eye?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What does he do, then, in his inward eye?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
d) Have you ever been some place that you really liked? Describe the place.
e) Draw a scene that represents the poem.
Create a poem that uses figurative language
1. Decide on an idea for a poem, break down your idea into several parts. Some
possible topics could be ones that deal with activities or hobbies that you do:
skateboarding, or dancing, or swimming, or surfing, or playing the piano, or playing
video games etc. The activity should have some meaning to you, as Wordsworth's
seeing the daffodils had for him.
Topic List activities you were doing
Imagine and list your feelings
What larger meaning does this activity have to you?
2. Create metaphors, similes, and personifications for your poem, using information
in the chart above.
3. Write your poem on a separate piece of paper in stanza form. Each line in a
stanza usually is a complete thought, almost like a sentence. Sometimes you can
think of a poem like a short story. The poem has stanzas that are like paragraphs;
each stanza can have its own topic sentences and supporting sentences. When you
write your poem, try to get across to the reader your feelings and attitude that you
have about your topic.