I WANDERED LONELY AS A

CLOUD
BY- WILLIAM
WORDSWORTH

he Platonic notion that humans forget all their knowledge at birth and spend the remainder of their lives recollecting, rather than learning. Wordsworth celebrates the child, who ca

Wordsworth, William (1770-1850), English poet, one of the

most accomplished and influential of England's romantic
poets, whose theories and style created a new tradition in
poetry.
Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, in Cockermouth,
Cumberland, and educated at Saint John's College,
University of Cambridge. He developed a keen love of
nature as a youth, and during school vacation periods he
frequently visited places noted for their scenic beauty. In
the summer of 1790 he took a walking tour through
France and Switzerland. After receiving his degree in 1791
he returned to France, where he became an enthusiastic
convert to the ideals of the French Revolution (17891799). His lover Annette Vallon of Orleans bore him a
daughter in December 1792, shortly before his return to
England. Disheartened by the outbreak of hostilities
between France and Great Britain in 1793, Wordsworth

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

WORD MEANING:1-Lonely2-Vales3-Breeze4-Ten thousands5-Out did-

alone
vallies
air
a number of, many
surpassed

Comprehensive questions:1-Who does the pronoun I stand here?

2-Which poetic device is used in the first line?
3-Where does a cloud float?
4-What for is a crowd mentioned here?
5-What does the poet recollect on his coach?
6-Why does the poet say Ten thousand saw I at a
glance ?

HOME WORK

1-William Wordsworth is known as

HIGH PRIEST of Nature. Explain this
statement in about 100 words.