I think that Wordsworth’s purpose was to show the beauty that you can see all around you, if you just take a minute to look. He wanted to try and share his experience in a way that people could realise how spectacular the sight really was.
I think that Clarke wanted to show that no matter who you are, you can appreciate the true beauty of nature, and how it can overwhelm you. I think that she used the man to show us how the first thing he said in years was remembering how the poem made him feel and the incredible effect that it obviously had on him.
The content of ‘The Daffodils’ is obviously completely orientated around the daffodils themselves.
In the first stanza of ‘The Daffodils’, Wordsworth wanted to set the drifting mood, and show that he is just wandering, aimlessly.
“Wandered lonely as a cloud”,
and the first sighting. He uses personification to describe the daffodils,
“Dancing in the breeze”,
And also wanted to describe the setting and environment that he was in.
“Beside the lake, beneath the trees”.
In stanza two, he shows us the sheer vastness,
“A thousand, ten thousand saw I at a glance”,
And just how the flowers looked from a distance,
“Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”.
Stanza three describes the beauty of the daffodils in further depth. There is a great deal of personification used for both the waves and the daffodils, to try and show us just how beautiful the daffodils and surrounding area were.
“The waves beside them danced”
“They outdid the sparkling waves in glee”.
He tells how at the time he did not realise just how much impact the moment had had upon him,
“Little thought what wealth the show to me had brought”,
Which clearly he did not notice, up until he had the inspiration to write the poem, two years after the original sighting.
The final stanza, as in many poems, holds the meaning and conclusion to the poem, and describes how he relives the moment and shows us how it was spiritually moving.
“My heart with pleasure fills”.
It also shows us that even though the moment had long passed, he still remembers the beauty of the scene.
The content of Miracle is similar in some ways to The Daffodils, for instance, the way that most descriptive stanza, including the meaning of the poem is in the last stanza, and the first stanza describes the scene.
In the first stanza, an idyllic country scene is portrayed, and the general mood is quite romantic.
“The path treads the sun among cedars”
Clarke uses good personification in this stanza, to set the scene, and to give us a clear introduction to the daffodils.
“Open-mouthed with daffodils”.
It gives us the first clue that perhaps there may be something to be more wary about.
“It might be a country house”
Stanza two tells us the true character of the building, and ruins the idyllic scene, and keeps very blunt with the description.
“I am reading poetry to the insane”
This being the first mention of there being something more to the building, we are shocked by not only the change of scene, but by the bluntly, and lack of description. It also introduces us to the patients, and there is almost a hint of humour when Clarke describes “An old woman, interrupting, offers as many buckets of coal as I need”, which shows the state of the patients.
The poet in this stanza also tells us of one particular patient, and this almost begins to rekindle the lost hope of the perfect scene portrayed.
“A beautiful chestnut-haired boy”
However, Clarke once more is very blunt when showing us the reality,
“A schizophrenic”,
And then smoothly runs into the next stanza, using a linked line.
“A schizophrenic-on a good day, they tell me later”
In the next stanza, stanza three, the description of the patients is continued. The poet uses metaphors to describe the scene further,
“In a cage of first March sun”, which I think also symbolises how the woman is trapped by her illness. This stanza also tells us that it is the first of March, and therefore the start of spring. This is also where the miracle begins, as the silent man is introduced. There is a brief description at the start of a broken line, which leads straight into the next stanza where the description is continued, in more detail.
Stanza four begins by telling us how the man’s first impressions are misleading, and shows us how sensitive and misjudged he is. He responds to the poetry.
“He rocks gently to the rhythms of the of the poems”
He is obviously moved by the poetry, and this is perhaps where the miracle begins to unfold. Again at the end of the stanza, there is an emphasis on the man’s illness.
Stanza five is where the miracle takes place, and at first the poet is scared, almost intimidated by the huge man, but then with his first words, recites ‘The Daffodils’ and we are given a moment of silent reflection before moving onto the next stanza. This stanza is very important and descriptive, and the poet uses alliteration “Suddenly standing, silently” and similes “like slow movement of spring water”.
Stanza six shows us the reaction of the miracle, from the patients and nurses, to the daffodils outside the window and nature.
“The daffodils are still as wax”
We also notice the quote from ‘The Daffodils’ “A thousand, ten thousand” which is almost the exact line from the poem, and is used to describe the vastness of the daffodils.
In stanza seven, we are given an explanation for the miracle. We are told how the man learnt ‘The Daffodils’ by heart when he was at school, over forty years ago. The poetry touched the man so much that it prompted hi to talk once more and remember the gift of speech. At the end of the stanza, however, there is another repetition of the man being “dumb” which reminds us of the original condition of the man.
The final stanza shows us the momentary silence being broken, and when the applause is given, nature seems to listen and join in.
“A thrush sings, and the daffodils are flame”
The structure of ‘The Daffodils is much as you might expect from a poem to be. There is a consistent rhyme, and each stanza is of the same length. Lines one and three, two and four rhyme together and the last two lines are a rhyming couplet.
This is a very short, but descriptive poem, and focuses mainly on the warmth and sunlight of the scene, and is very descriptive of the daffodils.
Each stanza comprises of six lines, and even though there are only twenty-four lines, on the poem, we get a clear image of the scene, and I think that the poet describes it as best he could.
The structure of Miracle is different in some ways to The Daffodils, and in some ways the same. There is rhythm, but no rhyme, and each stanza is of the same length. It is a lot longer than The Daffodils, but uses it as inspiration, and even uses a line almost directly from the poem.
When you read through the poem, you get the impression of a piece of prose. It is long, with no rhyme, and the stanzas link together, which makes them look more like a story than a poem.
The poem starts off quickly but then there is a pause between the fifth and sixth stanzas, and the end of the poem is very slow and thoughtful.
The narrative voice in both poems is in the poet, in the first person, the poet being the person who sees the scene. It is also the person who describes it all to us.
The language in The Daffodils is incredibly descriptive, all the way through the poem, especially when describing the daffodils themselves. It helps create a warm, sunny mood and atmosphere. The poem runs fairly slowly which is created using dashes
“I gazed-and gazed-but little thought”
In stanza one,
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high over 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.”
The mood is set, airy and aimless. We also feel drifting with the poem. One of the main points made in this stanza, is the vastness of the daffodils “a host of golden daffodils”.
Stanza two,
“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.”
Also conveys a shining, bright atmosphere, and continues the point of the huge number of the daffodils “Ten thousand”. The poet uses similes and metaphors to describe the scene. The poet also uses personification to show the movement and actions of the vast number of daffodils