Lonely As A

CLoud
By William
Wordsworth
Jack Yu, Trinity Rico, Tiffany Tran
English 10, Period 5
September 29, 2015

William wordsworth: An
English Romantic
Born April 7, 1770 at Cockermouth in Cumbria
Studied at Cambridge University
1795: received a legacy from a close relative and
moved to dorset with sister Dorothy
1797: moved to somerset
1799: settled at Dove Cottage in Grasmere in the
Lake District
1802: married childhood friend Mary Hutchinson
FAced many difficulties in the following years

Writing Career
Hawkshead Grammar School
Tour to Europe
Met Samuel Taylor Coleridge
collaboration on Lyrical Ballads marked the beginning of the
Romantic Movement in English poetry
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
1842: Given Government Pension
1843: became Poet Laureate

Later Life
Spent the rest of his life traveling
and participating in outdoors
excursions
Lost interest in poetry after death
of his daughter
Died at Rydal Mount on April 23,
1850
buried in Grasmere churchyard
Wife had to publish The Prelude
(1850)

I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud
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;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

The speaker is a lonely

poet who explores
around the valleys and
hills. When he stumbled
upon the field of
daffodils, he doesnt feel
isolated anymore
because the crowd of
daffodils is filling in the

I Wandered Lonely as a
Analysis:
Cloud
In this stanza, The
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.

poet compared the

daffodils to the stars
in the milky way. the
speaker describes the
daffodils as beautiful
as the stars in which
they shine.
Wordsworth is
probably indicating

I Wandered Lonely as a
Analysis:
Cloud
Both the waves and the
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 gazedand gazedbut little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

flowers brought
tranquility upon the
speaker, but he
countered that the
daffodils outshined the
waves. The poet could
not help but feel happy
for the scenery around
him, and he also noticed
how carefree both

I Wandered Lonely as a
Analysis:
Cloud
In this stanza, the
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.

speaker remembers his

being in touch with
nature as he reclines at
home and is filled with
happiness. We believe
that Wordsworth may
be alluding to the fact
that many of us fail to
enjoy the world around
us and often take it for

Overall Analysis
In Wordsworths I wandered lonely as a cloud, the speaker describes how the bright
simplicity of daffodils dancing in the breeze by the sea eases his troubled spirit. Wordsworths
choosing of this topic is understandable, for he had endured many losses, such as that of his
two children, a drowned brother, both his parents, and, dare we forget, the mental breakdown
of his sister and constant companion dorothy, in the years following his 1802 marriage to Mary
Hutchinson. His grief has consequently colored his works, present even in this seemingly
carefree poem. We see this in his titular first line: I wandered lonely as a cloud. The following
lines are almost like a slow-spreading happiness and a dawning of wonderment before the
speaker, at least in our minds, bursts out with a genuine laugh: A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company;. Perhaps this signals Wordsworths emergence from his mourning,
brought out by a little moment that made him smile, say, an interaction with nature, and
realize that life goes on, as demonstrated by the poems last stanza. His ending on such a
light-hearted tone allows him to convey to the reader that no matter what happens, there is
still something out there worth living for.

Works Cited
"Poet William Wordsworth." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils)." Shmoop.com. Shmoop
University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 27 Sep. 2015.
"William Wordsworth (1770-1850)." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2015.