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.
Daffodils are a type of flower known as spring ephemerals. True to this description, they usually bloom for about six to eight weeks—the first to flower in the spring and then to die back to dormancy by early to mid-summer.The poets, however, felt differently. William Wordsworth (1770–1850) noted an eternal quality to the golden trumpets that herald spring’s arrival. At a cursory glance, his poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is a simple expression of delight in their beauty. However, it actually contains a profound reflection on the relationship between beauty and memory.
