Analysis of Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Daffodils

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 be but gay

In such 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.

William Wordsworth (1807) 

Analysis

First Stanza

            In this stanza, the main focus is the persona. The author uses “lonely” to describe his (persona) situation or feeling. He is likened to a “cloud” that floats on high over valleys and hills. William uses “cloud” parallel to what the persona feels.  “Cloud” would actually symbolize loneliness. Loneliness means a feeling of being sad or isolated due to lack of company. William uses the appropriate word that best fit to “lonely”. We can really tell that a “cloud” is isolated since it is the only thing that we can see up in the sky (not during midnight or the time the sun rises).  In the third line, the setting shifts from above to the ground. The persona happens to see a group of daffodils, “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. We can observe an irony between “lonely” and “dancing”. Literally, a daffodil means a flower, but we can also refer this to people, considering the word “crowd” that the author uses in the line, “When all at once I saw a crowd/A host, of golden daffodils”.

Second Stanza

            Now, the focus is on “daffodils”. “They” in the third line actually refers to “daffodils”. We can observe another shift of setting here, from the ground (as observed in lines 3-6 of first stanza) back to the sky (proven in lines 1-2). “Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way/They stretched in never-ending line/Along the margin of a bay”, would mean that the daffodils that he happens to see are functioning as a group, brave and strong enough to reach a certain goal as proven in the phrase, “stretched in never-ending line”. The persona here is only having a glimpse or a quick look to his surrounding, proven in the word “glance”. “Ten thousand saw I at a glance/Tossing their heads in sprightly dance” would mean that what he sees or observes around are giving him information/message, either they are happy of the situation they have or they are seeing life in a positive way despite of failures that they have encountered, that they can afford to toss their heads in sprightly dance.

Third Stanza

            “The waves beside them danced, but they/Out-did the sparking waves in glee”, this line connects to my idea about the second stanza. The persona sees how daffodils dance the waves that they have encountered in life. “Waves” here refer to failures, problems, negative judgments or trials. Life tells us him that no matter what it takes, life must go on. Having those people who make our life meaningful is really a great thing for us to treasure and value. They are the reason of why we see ourselves smiling. They are the ones letting us know “happiness’. Going back to the persona, in the last two lines, he comes to think of what this message brings to him. He is not yet convinced at this point of his life since the author uses “gaze”, meaning, there is an action made but no progression is observed yet. He is still on the process of internalizing what he observes and learns in his environment.

Fourth Stanza

            The last stanza is more on self-assessment of persona’s own life. Here, we can learn that he now understands life. This would tell us that there is progress already (from wandering until the point of internalizing and realizing the true meaning of life). He finds out that it is during our vacant /relaxation time that we can think and imagine good thoughts, proven in lines: “For oft, when my couch I lie/In vacant or in pensive mood/They flash upon that inward eye/Which is the bliss of solitude”. True happiness of being alone is when a person uses his time in assessing his life and is able to appreciate the life he has. “And then my heart with pleasure fills, /And dances with the daffodils”, the persona is now experiencing self-satisfaction and happiness because of the pleasure that fills in his heart. A sudden shift of tense is observed here (from past to present), proven in the word “dances”. Indeed, William is giving his readers a hint that the persona is having an assessment with his life, and while he is alone, he is able to learn things that help him become a better person.