Stanza 1:
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.
Interpretation of the Stanza:
The poet incorporates a proper rhyming scheme of ABABCC thought out the poem which is highlighted through the first stanza. The poet starts this poem with the use of the first-person pronoun "I" and compares his lonely wandering with "a cloud" by the use of simile "like a cloud". The use of the verb "wandered" and adverb "lonely" in the first line is significant as the poet highlights the purpose of his wandering which was his loneliness. In the second line, the poet continues to compare himself with a cloud that floats over valleys and hills. Here, he uses juxtaposition and places valleys and hills, both having contrasting traits on the same page to create an effect of universality. The word "o'er" is misspelled in order to create defamiliarization. In the third line, the poet suddenly finds himself in the middle of a crowd. The position of the pronoun "I" in the middle of the third line justifies this interpretation. In the fourth line, this crowd was introduced by the poet to be a crowd of golden daffodils. The use of the word "crowd" is significant as it gives out two basic interpretations. Firstly, it is a personification highlighted by the poet to give a more humanly introduction of the daffodils. Secondly, the word "crowd" is often associated with conformity. In the fourth line, the daffodils are called "host" by the poet. The word host is associated with two things; receiver/ entertainer and Angels. These golden daffodils are highlighted by the poet to be receivers. This idea is continued by the poet with the use of ";". The poet in the last two lines highlights how these daffodils are present everywhere and are welcoming the poet. Due to the breeze, these daffodils appear to be dancing. The poet employs a personification of "dancing" and associated it with the fluttering of the daffodils.
Stanza 2:
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.
Interpretation of the Stanza:
In
the second stanza, just like the first one, the rhyming scheme of ABABCC is
used by the poet. In this stanza, the poet continues to associate different
images with the daffodils. In the first line, he compares the daffodils with
the stars by using the simile "as the stars that shine". He draws an
analogy between the stars that shine on the Milky Way and the never-ending line
of the daffodils present on the margin of the bay. The poet through this
analogy draws attention towards the eternal nature of these shining and
twinkling daffodils that are a source of beauty and possess an infinite and
eternal nature. Similarly, the use of a non-standard sentence structure is
significant as it emphasizes the word "continuous". The eternal and
continuous nature of these daffodils is also highlighted by the poet with the
use of the number "ten thousand". The number ten thousand appeared in
the last book of the Bible to describe the vast quantity of righteous spirit
beings and this number is the largest number ever recorded in the Book of
Genesis. This emphasis on the number "ten thousand" was laid by the
poet using a non-conventional sentence structure in the fifth line which
created a defamiliarized effect. In the last line, the poet uses the
personification of "tossing their heads" to describe the sprightly
dance of the daffodils. This mention of dance in the last line connects this
stanza with the previous one in which the dance of the daffodils was described
by the poet. The use of the hyperbole "never-ending" and the verb
"sprightly" strengthen the association of these daffodils with some
divine being.
Stanza 3:
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:
Interpretation of the Stanza:
In
the third stanza, just like the first two stanzas, the rhyming scheme of ABABCC
is used by the poet. In this stanza, the poet draws an analogy between the
daffodils and the sparkling waves of the river. The poet uses the
personification of dancing to highlight the movement of the sparkling waves on
the river. But even these sparkling waves, according to the poet are no match
in front of the golden daffodils. Both the waves and the daffodils are
associated with one and other based on dancing. The sprightly dance of the
daffodils is compared with the waves of the river. The use of the verb
"out-did" is significant as it highlights that the daffodils are
superior to these waves. The reason for the superiority of daffodils is the
happiness that these daffodils brought as highlighted by the poet by the use of
the word "glee". In the first two lines the poet firstly extends his
idea by using ";" and again in the second line uses ":" to
further explain the happiness these daffodils bring. In the third line, the poet
uses a third-person narrative device "a poet" and declares that these
daffodils create a sense of happiness. This sense of happiness can be felt by
any sensitive person. "A poet" is generally considered to be a keen
observer and a sensitive person. By using a poet to present the sense of
ecstasy these daffodils bring, the poet highlights that one needs to be keen
and sensitive in order to gay. In the
fourth line, the poet calls the company of these daffodils to be
"jocund". This idea is further continued by the poet using
":". In the last two lines, the sense of ecstasy these daffodils
bring is explained by the poet. In the fifth line, the poet uses a literary
device epizeuxis (the repetition of the same word in a sentence) "I gazed-
and gazed" to emphasize the idea that the speaker was immersed in looking
at the daffodils without thinking much. In the last line, the poet emphasizes
the wealth the daffodils had brought to him in different ways. Firstly, he uses
a non-standard sentence structure to emphasize the wealth the daffodils had
brought. Secondly, he uses "the show" as a metaphor for the daffodils
and creates a de-familiarized effect. Thirdly, the poet employs a WH-
interrogative pronoun "What" to artistically points out the significance
of the daffodils. Lastly, wealth is a metaphor for a permanent kind of
happiness. This idea of happiness is continued with the use of ":".
Stanza 4:
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.
Interpretation of the Stanza:
In the last stanza, the poet uses the rhyming scheme of ABABCC. The poet in this stanza continues his thoughts of the permanent happiness the daffodils bring. In the first line, he uses the word "oft" (wrong spellings of the word often) and a non-standard sentence structure to emphasize the nation that the memories of the daffodils flash frequently upon the poet. The poet while resting on his couch frequently thinks about the daffodils. In the second line, the speaker highlights his mood. The words "pensive" and "vacant" describe the mood of the speaker. In other words, the poet in loneliness, emptiness, and thoughtlessness was often struck with the memories of these daffodils which according to the speaker "flash upon that inward eye". These memories of the daffodils often flash upon the poet and fill him with happiness. The solitude is defined by the poet to be blissful because of the memories the daffodils bring to him. These memories which flash upon the inward eye Which is a metaphor used by the poet to express a deeper and truer spiritual vision are the reason for the poet's happiness. This idea of the daffodils to be bliss in solitude is further continued by the poet with the use of colon ":". This bliss dolls the heart of the poet and forces his heart to dance with the daffodils. The immense pleasure is described by the poet with the use of the hyperbole in which the heart of the poet dances with the daffodils "dances with the daffodils".
The poem is interpreted by Syeda Areeba Fatima, one of the permanent contributors to the SOL Community.
