"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William 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
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

The Romantic is not pedantic, but refers within himself to the beauties which he enjoyed in simple walks of nature. Wordsworth is word-smith in this delightful poem, one which engages a simple, pastoral scene, yet offers a glimpse of the eternity within himself.

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 trope "lonely as a cloud" suggests  a someone that is always on the move, but looking for rest. The restless which accompanies this "lonely cloud" cannot be misconstrued, for a cloud all by itself is evident in its movement. That the poet will not be lonely for long. A cloud cannot  exist in a wide expanse, and to be lonely would be near impossible, unless he was bound to run into something or someone. This "cloud", then is not lonely for space, but for life based on waiting, for something that will engage him to remind him of the life and largesse that comes with it.

From lonely to "a crowd, a host of golden daffodils". The humor is sly and slight, for how can one see a crowd, then a menacing one, indicated by "host", which speaks of armies, of marauding types. Yet the only fight is one with bouncing ease, "beside the lake, beneath the trees". Be-side, be-neath, this is a war against activity, if a war at all. The rest, the sweet pause which permits life to explode in the mind of man flutters and dances before him. "Breeze" even gives off a sweet caressing recollection of the golden daffodils who are being beside and beneath.

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.

From host to hyperbole, the poet does not condemn or corrupt the calm power of this scene. Instead of numbers, he begins with increase based on connection, "continuous" as a word that expresses not just a collection, but one that "holds together", that their place with each other not only confines them, but defines them, purpose and place as one. These "stretch", how the mind of the viewer has created a lively, never-ending glory from the simple bobbing heads of daffodils along the water's edge.

These flowers now correspond to "the stars that shine and twinkle" both grand and giddy, bright and billowy, silly and serious, thus complete and commanding. "The milky way" extends this tiny army of flowers to the heavenly hosts. The "cloud" is no longer lonely, but now roving and romping in a community beyond the stretches of a tor or strand.

"Ten thousand" the poet witnesses, and "at a glance." He is not just seeing, now, he is prophesying, calling forth so much out of so simple.

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 "cloud" that rests in the presence of the glorious field now witnesses the awakening of the grand ball of nature. The "tossing heads in a sprightly dance" are joined by the waves, also "beside", yet another "war" ensues, this time between the water and the plants, and now the plants have "won", for they "out-did" the waves "in glee". The poet is now carefree, attending this wonderful scene, and he is dancing with them. "Jocund" speaks of "high and lively spirits" - inanimate nature is animated now, refusing to rest without releasing its life for all to see and enjoy. "I gazed and gazed" -- he kept looking, he was not thinking, but taking in, receive the "wealth" of taking in this supernatural performance.

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.

This scene, this wonderful and lively performance, now plays out in the poet's mind whenever the world grows dull, when in his mind he find himself in "vacant or pensive" mood. The intuition of trusting the unseen takes away the vague and ponderous sense that he must "do something" in order to bring to  life a world that seems so dead. What a wonder, that even at rest in the most drowsy and undone, those daffodils "flash upon that inward eye", the deeper eye of one's understanding, that the world that we are seeking is as near as our own heart, our own imagination. "Solitude" becomes a blessed "bliss", that alienation, loss, loneliness can never again afflict a man who has "the dance of the daffodils" evermore within.