Daffodils Appreciation

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Daffodils Appreciation

        In the poem `Daffodils`, Wordsworth eloquently uses figurative language, imagery, and personification to describe a scenic display of daffodils. It is through his description of, feelings behind, and reaction to the daffodils that craftily reveal the true meanings of this text.

In the first verse Wordsworth describes himself to wander `lonely as a cloud`. He identifies himself as a solitary creature alone in a void of privacy. In the next line he sees the daffodils, describing them as a crowd  (`A host of golden daffodils`). Wordsworth went from being alone to the total opposite, completely surrounded and overwhelmed by a presence (the daffodils). We can also find impact in the several meanings of the word `host` used in line 4. The word `host` can also mean: `crowd,` `swarm,` `congregation` and `mass.` Wordsworth's usage of the word `host` creates images of community and strength in numbers. Wordsworth overwhelms us with collective images in verse 2, relating the daffodils to stars, describing them as stretching `in never-ending line` and also expressing that he sees `ten thousand ... at a glance`. In the last line of verse 1 he personifies the daffodils to be `fluttering and dancing in the breeze`. We can elaborate on Wordsworth's many collective images through this line. Frequently, communities or groups of people have trouble working together, but through Wordsworth's personification of the daffodils, also seen in line 12 where the daffodils are `tossing their heads in sprightly dance,` we recognize that the daffodils are working together in unison with no trouble at all. Their `dance` is in complete coordination.

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In verse 3, Wordsworth compares the daffodils to another natural image, waves. `The waves beside them danced; but they Outdid the sparkling waves in glee`. He personifies both the daffodils and the waves to `dance,` again suggesting the ability of both to work as one, but here we also see that Wordsworth decides that the daffodils make much more of an impression on him than the waves. Both objects work in unison, but the difference between the two is that when Wordsworth looks at the waves he only sees one object. When he looks at the daffodils he sees `ten ...

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