Daffodils- The Poetry

These days I am reacquainting myself to poetry.I started by trying to remember the ones we studied at school. The one that stands out is "Daffodils". The other Wordsworth poetry we studied was "The Solitary Reaper". At that time I was alien to poetry. Critical appreciation was something that had to be completed as homework. The finer nuances of words hardly sank in. It was a chore which was boring.

These days I find it easy to unwind with a poem. A poem is easier to read than prose and is able to convey a lot through metaphors. When I reread the poem "Daffodils", the simple beauty of it hit me. All I can say is Wordsworth was a true nature lover. People especially in this day and change hardly admire nature's beauty and bounty. Wordsworth found time to observe nature closely and write about it too. This poem conveys Wordsworth's solitary journey through a verdant valley and the observations he makes along the way.

Introspection and deep thinking require silence. In my opinion observation like this can happen in solitude. It cannot happen when you are in a group or have people clamoring for your attention.

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D 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 stretch'd 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.

By William Wordsworth