The Daffodils

November 2002

For my piece of coursework I have chosen the famous poem ‘The Daffodils’ written by William Wordsworth.

 William Wordsworth was born in 1770, in Cumberland. He was sent to Cambridge and later married Mary Hutchinson. Orphaned as a child, he had a very close relationship with his sister Dorothy. She lived with William and Mary in the Lake District village of Grasmere. He and Mary had four children but sadly two of the four died.

In 1843, Wordsworth became Poet Laureate. He died of pleurisy in 1850.

‘The Daffodils’ is about a day when Wordsworth is feeling particularly miserable, and decides to go for a walk. Along the way he observes a host of daffodils. Wordsworth thinks that the flowers are so beautiful that they leave an indelible impression in his mind. Weeks, maybe months after he had first seen the flowers he is feeling sad again. Wordsworth remembers the beautiful sight of the daffodils. Just thinking of the flowers is enough to make him no longer feel lonely. The memory helps to lift his mood.

I think that Wordswoth is trying to tell us that if we have a memory, it can last forever. Even when he was feeling sad and lonely Wordsworth is able to think of a place in the back of his mind, and project himself there. He is trying to tell us that we can all do this.

I think that the tone of this poem is sad and lonely in parts but happy and cheerful in other parts. The atmosphere is melancholy for the two opening lines. However, as soon as Wordsworth begins to recount his experience, the poem very quickly becomes quite uplifting.

The poem has a lilting rhythm, which carries you with it. I think that this is caused by the length of the sentences. Every line of the poem has eight syllables. However, the first three lines of every stanza appear longer than the fourth. As soon as you get to the fourth line it seems to speed up.

To make this poem particularly realistic, Wordsworth personifies the daffodils many times. He personifies them as a large crowd of people dancing and making movements. This shows that the daffodils cause him to no longer feel lonely; he sees them as a group of people.

Wordsworth also uses words like ‘golden’ to describe the flowers. The word golden suggests wealth and a certain richness of experience that the flowers have brought to him. The daffodils obviously mean a lot to him although, he did not realise it at the time. We are made aware of this when he says I gazed - and gazed - but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought: 

He also talks a lot about their beauty. At one point he tells us that the daffodils ‘Out-did the sparkling waves in glee’. The daffodils, to Wordsworth, must have been the most beautiful things that he could see at this moment in time.

In ‘The Daffodils’, twice the flowers cheer up Wordsworth and make him no longer feel lonely. Although, sometimes Wordsworth almost seems to enjoy being on his own. He displays this by saying ‘which is the bliss of solitude.’ This is Romantic poetry.

He only uses similes twice in the whole poem. Both times are when he says ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, which is the opening line, and ‘Continuous as the stars that shine’. The second simile also shows the large number of daffodils that he can see.

I really liked ‘The Daffodils’. I think that it is a brilliant poem as well as one that is just enjoyable to read. It has a storyline that everyone can relate to and he has definitely been successful in getting his point across.

After looking so much at this poem I have realised how great it is. Wordsworth uses so many different ways to pull you into the atmosphere of the poem, that you feel as if you are really there, experiencing it.

I enjoyed looking at ‘The Daffodils’ and look forward to reading more of William Wordsworth’s work.