I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud By William Wordsworth Summary

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The poet William Wordsworth was born on the 7th of April 1770 in northwestern England in the Lake District. He was born into a relatively affluent family and had four siblings. He was closest to his sister Dorothy (in both age and relationship). As a child, Wordsworth developed a love for all things of nature. This love is readily apparent in the majority of his work. Wordsworth’s literacy and love of books was also established early and was promulgated mostly by his father (usually with an emphasis on poetry and plays). His mother did, however, initially teach him to read. After her death 1778, when he was seven years old, he attended a grammar school in Lancashire. It was at this point where he was largely apart from his family.
In 1787, …show more content…

At the beginning of the poem, the poet seems to have a sort of disconnect with the landscape. He is not one with it, but rather above it. He then sees beauty so boundless that it brings him down to Earth. Throughout the poem, Wordsworth compares the flowers to a crowd of people, one which is dancing and swaying in, and along with, the wind. To him, they surpass the beauty of the sea and are analogous in number to the stars. The gorgeous vista before him not only gladdens his heart then, but it also brings forth joy when he pictures the scene in his mind’s eye, even if he is far away from that very spot. His meta-reference “A poet could not but be gay…” seems to indicate his fervent desire to eventually sit and jot down a poem about the very spot in which he was standing at that …show more content…

Wordsworth is relating a joyous walk he has taken, one which had such a profound effect on him that he recounts it with incredible vividness long after. Though I believe he embellishes on some aspects of the landscape, it remains within reason. It was this landscape that must have broken such rote practices as a daily constitutional, and that later breaks a brooding or “vacant” mood on a dreary or uneventful day. Throughout, he expresses his longing to be one with the daffodils, dancing and swaying in the wind. His wish is granted through his “inward eye”, with which he can go back and experience this walk

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