Daffodils Analysis

Stanza 1
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.

In the first stanza of William Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud” the

speaker uses first person to personalize what he says and to give more depth and
meaning to his words. In the first line, the speaker uses melancholy diction to
describe how he “wandered lonely as a cloud”. He then shifts to a euphoric tone
when he describes the “host of golden daffodils”. He uses descriptive imagery
when he says that they were “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. The reader
immediately senses that the speaker has brought him to a Utopia. The peaceful
language and the description of the beauty allow the reader to feel carefree and at
ease.

Stanza 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:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
In the second stanza, the speaker shifts his focus from the daffodils and compares
them with the “continuous…stars…that shine and twinkle on the milky way”. The
speaker allows to reader to experience the majesty of seeing “ten thousand
[stars]…at a glance”. At this point, the reader begins to sense that he is not on earth
anymore, but rather in a place full of majesty and beauty, perhaps heaven or some
other form of afterlife. Throughout the poem, rhyme and rhythm help it to flow
smoothly, giving the readers a continued sense of utopian peace. The rhyme
scheme, ab ab cc, is an integral part of bringing the reader a sense of rest and
peace. This stanza not only allows the reader to feel the sense of peace the speaker
feels, but also to feel life. This is not simply a peaceful place; it is full of life.
Figurative language and personification are used when the daffodils are described
as tossing “their heads”. This gives the readers the feeling that this peaceful,
utopian place, is also lively and spirited.

Stanza 3
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:

The third stanza continues the personification describing how the waves “danced”
and the daffodils “out-did the sparkling waves in glee”. This continues to give
readers a sense of peace and joy combined with lively action. The personifications
of the daffodils also reveals their effect on the speaker as he regards them with life
and attributes to them the ability to feel “glee”. The speaker then shifts the focus
back to himself as a poet when he says, “A poet could not but be gay”. This
portrays the effect the dazzling daffodils had on the speaker. When he says, “What
wealth the show to me had brought”, it shows that the mere sight of the golden
daffodils somehow enriched his life and brought wealth to him. The use of the
word “wealth” reveals that this sense of peace and joy are worth more to the
speaker than money or other worldly wealth. This also gives the reader the idea
that some things are worth more than money and worldly goods, such as peace,
joy, and life.

Stanza 4
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.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker shifts from a peaceful, joyful tone to one of
pensive thought. He also comes down from the cloud and reveals the reality of his
current physical state. Even though he no longer sees the dancing waves and the
golden daffodils, he reveals that he will never forget them when he says, “they
flash upon that inward eye”. The speaker reveals that he not only still has the
memory of the daffodils, but that he has also kept the memory of how they made
him feel. He reveals this when he says, “And then my heart with pleasure fills, and
dances with the daffodils”. This gives the reader the sense that the speaker has
either been dreaming, or has had an experience in which he caught a glimpse of
heaven. It leaves the reader with a yearning to find that perfect place of utopian
peace.

Historical Context
William Wordsworth was not without his share of loss. In fact, he lost his mother
when he was seven, and his father when he was thirteen. As if that were not
enough loss for one person, three of his children preceded him in death. This
background gives this particular poem greater meaning. The poem reveals that the
speaker feels far more comfortable and peaceful when thinking about the afterlife
than he feels at home on his couch in real life. This reveals a sense of longing for
what is after, and a sense of disappointment in earthly life. This experience of
wandering as a cloud was either a dream or a vision, a glimpse of heaven.
Whatever this experience was, it is clear that Wordsworth holds on to the memory
of this experience to give him hope in life.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON “DAFFODILS” By WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

1. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:-
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 bridge.

(a) What was the poet doing? In what sense was he like a floating cloud?

Ans:- The poet was wandering aimlessly without any purpose like a cloud that
floats freely in the sky. The poet was like a floating cloud in the sense that as a
cloud floats over hills and valleys aimlessly without any purpose; the poet was also
wandering pointlessly beside a lake.

(b) What pleasant sight attracted his attention?

Ans:- While wandering aimlessly, the attention of the poet fell upon a wonderful
sight of daffodils, who were in large number, growing under the trees and
spreading along the bank of a lake.

(c) Why does the poet compare himself to an object of nature and an object of
nature to a human being?

Ans:- The poet does so to convey us the idea that there exists an inherent
combination, relation and unity between man and nature.

(d) The poet later uses a simile to describe the beauty of the daffodils. What is
that?

Ans:- The simile that the poet uses to compare the beauty of the daffodils is that of
the
twinkling stars in the Milky Way in our Galaxy. He does so to underline the large
number
Daffodils, comparable to the numerous twinkling stars in the Galaxy.

(e) Whom did the daffodils seem to surpass in vigour and liveliness?

Ans:- The daffodils swayed to and fro in the gentle breeze. The waves in the lake
swayed too in that very breeze and sparkled due to the sun’s rays falling on them.
But the beauty of those thousands of those yellow flowers was so enchanting that
they surpassed the beauty of the sparkling waves. That is why the poet said that the
flowers” out-did” the water with their happiness.
(f) Discuss the importance of the following lines with reference to the poem:-
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Ans:- These lines expresses the pleasant encounter of the poet with the daffodils by
a lake. Once the poet was wandering pointlessly beside a lake, he was all alone to
wander freely akin to a patch of clouds floating in the sky, over the valleys and the
hill. Suddenly he could view the large number of daffodils gathered by the side of
the lake. They were sheltered under a growing tree. The airy breeze made them
wave and dance, rejoice and play.

(g) Why do you think the poet refers to the daffodils as golden?

Ans:- The Daffodils resembles the colour of gold according to the poet. Actually
the daffodils were yellow in colour and the sun’s ray falling on them made them
shine like gold. That is why the poet refers to daffodils as golden.

(h) Which figure of speech is used in the following lines? How many daffodils do
you think the poet saw? Give a reason for your answer.

A host, of golden daffodils.

Ans:- The poet here uses ‘simile’ to compare the numerous daffodils with that of
the numerous stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. The poet says, “Ten thousand saw at
a glance” The poet however could not estimate their number as they spread along
extensive sides of the lake. That is why poet says “They stretch’d in never-ending
line.”

2. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:-
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never- ending line
Along the margin of bay:
Ten thousands saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

(a) Why does the poet compare the daffodils to the stars?

Ans:- The daffodils resemble akin to innumerable shining stars that one could see
in the night sky in the form of Milky Way. That is why the poet compares the
daffodils to the stars.
(b) “They stretch’d in never ending line”. Explain.

Ans:- The poet here emphasizes on the numerosity of the daffodils. He wants to
say that they were profuse in number stretching all over the side of a lake beside
which the poet was wandering pointlessly.

(c) ‘ Ten thousands saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’
Explain the above lines. What literary device has been used here?

Ans:- The daffodils growing beside the lake were large in numbers stretching all
along the side of the lake like the countless stars in the sky in a never ending line.
The poet seemed to have been in an illusion that he was watching ten thousand
daffodils swaying their heads in a “sprightly dance”.
The daffodils have been personified as human beings, fluttering and “tossing their
heads” in a “sprightly dance”. So the literary device used here is personification.
This personification affirms the instinctive harmony between man and nature.

(d) What is the milky way ? Why is it referred to in the extract?

Ans:-The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The descriptive
“milky” is derived from the appearance from Earth of the galaxy- a band of light
seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by
the naked eye. It is referred to in the extract because to draw a comparison with the
daffodils that resemble akin to the innumerable shining stars that one could see in
the night sky in the form of Milky Way.

(e) When does the sight of the daffodils come to the poet’s mind later in trhe
poem? What does he get recollecting that sight of daffodils?

Ans:- The sight of the daffodils come to the poet’s mind again when the poet is,
either in a lonely or a pensive mood.Then the entire panorama that he saw in the
lake, flashes across his mind’s eye. In solitude, when his mind is unrestrained by
disturbing elements of the real world, he revives the memories of the daffodils.
When the memory of that sight comes into view of the poet, he is able to derive
ecstatic pleasure which he had enjoyed actually.

(f) State how the technique of using exaggeration heightens the poetic effect in the
extract.
Ans:- In Daffodils, Wordsworth uses different figures of speech to create a distinct
image of the daffodils that he encounters by the side of a lake. One of them is
Hyperbole or Exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis. “Ten thousand saw I
at a glance” is a hyperbole expressing the numerosity of the daffodils lying
together by the side of the lake. The poet though unable to estimate the number of
daffodils, makes use of this hyperbole to create a distinct impact on the mind of the
readers thus giving creating a beautiful poetic effect.

(g) Briefly describe the musical quality of the extract.

Ans:- ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth is itself a lyrical poetry with full of

musical elements in it. The musical quality of this extract is the dance of Daffodils
“Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.”.Their swaying movement of the Daffodils
in the breeze has been compared to a lively dance that was able to create a
rhythym.

WORKBOOK QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

PASSAGE-1

i. Who has been referred to as ‘I’ in the first line of the extract? Where do you
think was he wandering?
i) The poet William Worthsword is referred to as 'l' in the first line of the extract
.He was wandering all alone in the woods of the Lake District.
ii.What does the poet encounter while wandering? Where does he
encounter them?
ii) The poet encountered a large number of golden daffodils. They grew beneath
the trees along the edge of a lake.
iii. Why do you think the poet refers to the daffodils as golden?
iii) The daffodils were yellow and they were shining in the sun like gold.
iv. Discuss the importance of the following lines with reference to the poem:
“Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
iv ) These lines personify the beautiful daffodils. The poet sees the daffodils
growing along the margin of a bay, and they appear to be dancing and fluttering in
the breeze. These lines are important as it was the daffodils’ lively appearance that
captivated the poet.
v. Which figure of speech is used in the following lines? How many daffodils
do you think the poet saw? Give reason for you answer.
“When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,”
v) The poet has used hyperbole. He saw a host of daffodils, which means there
were nearly ten thousand of them. It is exaggeration/hyperbolic expression. He
might have seen a few hundred of them.

PASSAGE-2

i. How are the daffodils compared to the stars?

(i) The poet uses a simile to compare the daffodils to the stars on the milky way.
As infinite number of stars shine on the milky way, so a multitude of golden
daffodils grew along the edge of the lake.
ii. What is the milky way? Why is it referred to in the extract?
(ii) Milky way is a galaxy of stars that stretches like a band across the sky. It is
referred to in the extract to compare the infinite number of stars to the infinite
number of daffodils.
iii. What is meant by the margin of the bay?
(iii) The margin of the bay means the edge of the lake.
iv. State how the technique of using exaggeration heightens the poetic effect
in the extract?
(iv) The poet has exaggerated the number of daffodils by calling them a crowd, a
host and continuous as the stars on the milky way. It gives us a picture of infinite
stars growing along the bank of the lake as far as the poet could see. The use of
such exaggeration thus heightens the poetic effect.
v. Briefly describe the musical quality of the extract.
v) Daffodils is a lyric poem. Each line consist of eight syllables and the rhyme
scheme is ababcc . Soft consonants have been used which gives a musical effect
when read aloud.

PASSAGE-3
i. How did the daffodils outdo the waves?
i) The daffodils were more vibrant than the waves. The daffodils danced and
fluttered and tossed their heads while the waves just rippled and sparkled.
ii. What is meant by jocund company? Which jocund company is the poet
referring to? Why does the poet find it jocund?
ii) A jocund company means a happy and gay party. The poet found himself in the
jocund company of golden daffodils and dancing waves. They all were jocund
because they danced merrily without a pause.

iii. Which wealth referred to by the poet? Explain how the wealth was
brought to the poet?
iii) The happy and beautiful scene made the poet happy. But this joy was not
momentary. It was a joy forever. The memory of the scene made him happy again
and again later. It was the wealth the scene had brought to the poet. The wealth
was brought to the poet when he encountered the golden daffodils surpassing the
beauty of dancing waves.
iv. What is the mood of the poet in the above extract? Which lines tell you so?
Why is he in such a mood?
iv) The poet is in a happy mood. The lines 'A poet could not but be gay, In such a
jocund company' tells us that he was very happy. The daffodils and the waves were
happy and rheir happiness was infectious. It made him happy too.
v. With reference to the above extract, state why Wordsworth can be called
nature poet.
v) Wordsworth loved nature. He liked to wander in woods, valleys and over the
hills. He loved and admired the scenes of nature. and described them beautifully in
his poems.So we can say ……..

PASSAGE-4
i. What happens to the poet when the he lies on his couch in a pensive mood?
i) When the poet lies down on his couch in a pensive mood, the memory of the
scene of dancing daffodils flashes on his mind. He feels he is again in the company
of happy daffodils and it makes his heart dance with them again.
ii. What is the ‘bliss of solitude’ referred to in the extract? How does the bliss
of solitude take place?
ii) The bliss of solitude is referred to the paradise the poet finds himself in as soon
as the image of golden daffodils flashes before his eye. The bliss comes to him in
the form of the memory of dancing daffodils when he is alone, sad and in
thoughtful mood.

iii. Explain the transition from poet’s pensive mood to his heart filled with joy.
iii) When the poet is lonely sad and in a thoughrful mood , he lies on his couch.
But suddenly, the memory of the scene of the dancing daffodlils flashes in his
imagination. He feels he is in the company of the gay daffodils. His
loneliness, sadness and melancholy, all vanishes. He is happy again. His heart is
filled ,with joy.
iv. With reference to the last two lines of the extract, state the influence that
nature can have over an individual’s mind.
iv) Nature is a healer. It is like a nurse. It gives comfort and solace. It removes sad
and unhappy thoughts and fill our hearts with hope and joy.
v. Wordsworth says that poetry is “ the overflow of feelings arising from
emotions recollected in tranquillity.’ In this context, state how the poem shows
the truth of his statement.
v) Wordsworth idea of poetry is that it originates from the overflow of feelings,
recollected in tranquility. This means that the poet observes some object. It sets off
powerful emotions in his mind. The poets lets them sink into his mind. At a later
moment, he recollects those emotions in tranquility and produces a poem. The
poem Daffodils clearly explains this definition of poetry. The poet saw a beautiful
scene of dancing daffodils. He was filled with joy. At a later moment when he
was alone (in tranquility) he recollected that scene. He felt the bliss again and the
result is this poem.

MORE QUESTIONS
Discussion 1
1. After reading the poem, can you guess what a daffodil is?
Ans. The daffodil is a flower that is yellow and therefore comparable to gold in its
colour. They usually grow near lakes. On seeing the yellow daffodils the poet
perhaps recollects some golden memories that he cherishes in the lonely time. He,
therefore, calls them ‘golden daffodils’.

Q. Why does the poet compare the daffodils to stars?

Ans. The poet compares the daffodils to stars because the daffodils stretch in
never-ending line like the stars in the galaxy. Moreover, like stars, the daffodils
shine as they are golden and also twinkle like the stars as they flutter due to the
breeze. This is a clear indication that daffodils are heavenly stars.

Q. Why has the poet described solitude as being blissful?

Ans. The poet described solitude as being blissful because when the poet is lonely
and not doing anything the thought of golden daffodils that he has seen dancing
and fluttering in the valley fills his mind with pleasure and he rejoices the moment.

Q. What does the inward eye mean? What is it that flashes upon his eye? Do
you think the poet is affected by it in any way? Give reasons.
Ans. The inward eye means visual imagination that takes the poet to the world of
past recollection. It is something that can not be shared with other people. The
golden daffodils which he has seen in the valley flash upon his inward eye. The
memory of dancing and fluttering daffodils fills his heart with pleasure.
It is like a spiritual vision that brings a feeling of joy. It is a blessing for the poet.
That is why the poet calls the inward eye a ‘bliss of solitude’.
Q. Where were the daffodils growing ?
Answer: The Daffodils were growing beside the lake under the trees.

Q. What are the objects the poet compares with the daffodils?
Answer: The poet compares the daffodils with the dancing waves and shining and
twinkling stars.

Q. What is the effect of daffodils on the poet?

Answer: The daffodils fill the poet’s heart with pleasure and he feels happy with
them.

Q. What is the bliss of solitude according to the poet ?

Answer: When the person is in solitude and there is nobody around him. He is all
alone. He has the opportunity to think of nature. In the poem the poet says that
when he is either busy thinking or not thinking about any thing he is reminded of
the daffodils. He says that loneliness becomes lovely if he thinks about daffodils in
his loneliness. When he remembers the daffodils he starts feeling happy, content
and perfectly at peace with himself. This happens because of solitude.

Q. Why does the poet stop on seeing the daffodils ?

Answer: The poet stops on seeing the daffodils because never before in his life had
he seen such beautiful golden daffodils and that too in such a very large number.
He is completely attracted towards them.

Q. What is the theme of this poem ?

Answer: The healing and refreshing effect of Nature is the theme of this poem.
Q. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Ans. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ababcc.

Reference To The Context

1. Continuous as the stars that………in sprightly dance.

Reference: These lines are taken from the poem “the Daffodils” written by
William Wordsworth. The poet feels elated at the sight of the countless number of
the daffodils that have grown by the side of the lake.

Context: In the lines under reference, the poet compares the golden daffodils with
the stars that shine and twinkle in the sky.
a) What does “they” refer to?
A. ‘They’ refers to the golden daffodils.
b) Why have they been compared to the Milky Way?
A. They have been compared to the Milky Way because the poet feels the number
of the daffodils as unending as the stars in the Milky Way.

c) Pick out an example personification from these lines. What is the picture
created through this description?
A. The example of personification is as under:

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The picture created by this description is one of the happy dancers dancing and
tossing their heads against each other in a very happy situation.

d) Find an example of a rhyming couplet from these lines.

A. The example of the rhyming couplet from these lines is as under.
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

2. Ten thousand saw I at……..a jocund company!

a) What did the poet see at a glance? We’re they really ten thousand in
number?
A. The poet saw a countless number of daffodils at a glance. No, they were not
really ten thousand in number. It is the poet’s way of describing the innumerable
and unending sight of the daffodils. Such use of things is called hyperbole.

b) How do “they” outdo the waves?

A. The daffodils outdid the waves in happiness and joy for they were both happy
but the daffodils appeared to the poet much happier than the waves and that is how
the poet describes the way the daffodils outdid the waves.

c) What do the waves refer to?

A. The waves refer to the raised lines of water that fly over the surfaces of the
daffodils.
d)How did the scene affect the poet?
A. The scene affected the poet emotionally. It made the poet feel emotionally
satisfied and blissful.

e) Pick out three words that mean “being happy”?

A. The words that mean being happy are “glee”, “gay”,’ jocund’

f) Find two examples of personification from these lines?

A. Tossing their heads in sprightly dance the waves beside them danced.

3. I gazed- and gazed – but little thought

…….the bliss of solitude;

a) What is the wealth that the poet is referring to these lines? What kind of
poetic device is it?
A. The poet is referring to the wealth of being, happy, the wealth of joy. It is not a
reference to the material gains or whatever amounts be worldly. It is the wealth of
being happy in the company of daffodils.
The poetic device used in it is’ metaphor’.

b) Why does the poet refer to it as ‘wealth’?

A. The poet refers to it as ‘wealth’ because it brings both emotional and spiritual
satisfaction and emotional bliss.

c) When does the poet feel blissful?

A. The poet feels blissful even when he is not in the company of daffodils and also
simply when he gets reminded of them.

d) Why does the poet refer to it as being a ‘blissful’ state?

A. The poet refers to it as being a blissful state because he derives a spiritual and
emotional bliss. Even when the poet is completely alone where normally a person
cannot be but sad. The remembrance of the beauty of the daffodils makes his
solitude blissful.

e) Had the poet realised the importance of the scene when he had first seen it?
Give reasons for your answer?
A. No, the poet had not realized the significance of the scene when he had first
seen if because, in accordance with the poet, he could not visualize what wealth of
joy the sight of the daffodils had brought to him. He could scarcely believe that the
recollection of the scene of the daffodils would make his vacant times a source of
happiness and satisfaction.

Q. Why does the poet compares himself to a cloud?

OR
Why has the poem called daffodils a crowd and how are they in contrast to his
loneliness?
Ans. The poet compares himself to a cloud in the beginning of the poem because
he is wandering about in a state of loneliness and detachment. Just like the clouds
are moving overhead unattached to the scene below similarly the poet is walking
all alone detached from the scenes of nature that surround him.

Q. What do the words ‘crowd’ and ‘host’ suggest?

Ans). The words “crowd” and “host” suggest a multitude or a large number of
daffodils. It suggests the suddenness with which the poet comes upon the daffodils
where his first impression of the daffodils is their sheer numerousness.

Q. How to do it daffodils resemble the stars?

Ans. The daffodils remind the poet of the stars both in their brightness and in
numbers. They are golden in colour. Just as the stars shine along the curves of the
heavens, similarly the daffodils the daffodils glow in along the bank of the lake.

Q. Why is dance important in the poem?

Ans). Dance or movement is an important image in the poem symbolizing the idea
of joy, harmony and life itself. Both the daffodils and the waves are dancing in joy.
Everything in nature is rejoicing in the One Life that blows through them. They are
rejoicing with the principle of joy and pleasure that is there in life itself. Unlike the
daffodils and the waves it is only the poet who is solitary and lonely; the only
creature in creation capable of feeling not at home and wonders “lonely as a
cloud.”

Q. Are the daffodils competing with the waves?

Ans). It appears that the daffodils are not only competing with but also outdoing
the shimmering and dancing waves in the lake. The daffodils are tossing their
heads about in a joyous and merry dance.

Q. How did the poet actually feel as “gazed and gazed”?

Ans). As the poet gazed upon the scene of the daffodils beside the lake he was
mesmerised by the sight. The moment he saw the daffodils his spirit soared and the
mood of loneliness and detachment changed to one of joy and happiness.

Q. What does “wealth” signify?

Ans).The sight of the daffodils becomes a treasure cove that lifts the poet’s spirit
and rejuvenates him in times of loneliness and despair. Whenever the weariness,
the fever and the fret of the world becomes too much for him he returns in his
imagination to the joyous experience of that spring morning. It lends him the same
joy that it gave him the first time. It becomes a permanent source of wealth or
treasure to which he can turn in times of distress or need.

Q. Why does the poet consider solitude to be blissful?

Ans). Solitude for Wordsworth was a blissful experience where he could recall
from memory the experience of joy and ecstasy that the daffodils had imparted to
him. In solitude he could be rejuvenated by the sights and sounds of nature that he
had stored in his memory. Solitude for him was not a lonely experience but an
enriching one.

Q. Describe the historical or cultural or social relevance of the poem The

Daffodils.
OR
Give a brief introduction of the poet?
Ans) William Wordsworth is one of the most important poets of English literature.
He was one of the eminent nature poet. He was born in the year 1770 in the
English Lake District which is the most picturesque and scenic parts of England. It
is filled with beautiful lakes, hills, meadows and rivulets. He was surrounded by
nature since his childhood. When he moved to France to finish his graduation, the
ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity of the ongoing French Revolution fired the
imagination of the young poet. His poem ‘Daffodils’ is one of his most famous
poems and a classic of English Romanticism. Written in 1804, it was first
published in 1807 in Poems in Two Volumes. Later in 1815 Wordsworth revised it
and it is this version that has survived till date.

The intense attention on the individual’s rights added greater emphasis to the
significance of personal subjectivity and feeling. Romantic writers put a premium
on ordinary, genuine, and sincere emotions. They loved speech spontaneity and
detested affectation and artificiality.
The Romantic age was also an era of the Industrial Revolution, and the
revolutionary ideas regarding individual rights frequently clashed with capitalist’s
demands. Workers had few rights, and worked in difficult conditions for long
hours. Cities grew rapidly but the factory smoke and soot often made urban
life grim and grim.
Romantic literature has also provided an escape from the materialr world of
capitalism and industrialisation. The individual may turn to nature in order to find
his or her true self. Nature has been seen as restorative, genuine and even divine.
Nature therefore offered a transcendental experience involving an aspect of
pantheism, the idea that the divine is a part of all.

Q. Name the poets of the Romantic Movement of English Literature.

Ans) The main poets of the Romantic Movement were Blake, Wordsworth,
Coleridge, Shelley, Byron and Keats.

Q. Discuss the structure of the poem.

Ans). The poem is twenty four lines long consisting of four stanzas. Each stanza is
a sestet that is six lines long. It is formed with a quatrain (four lines), followed by a
couplet (two lines) to form a sestet. The rhyme scheme follows the pattern of
ABABCC that is: (A cloud in line one rhymes with crowd in line three), ( B hills 2,
daffodils 4) and (C trees 5, freeze 6).

Q. What is a simile?
Ans). A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things that are not alike in
most ways but are similar in one important way. It is often introduced with the
word ‘like’ or ‘as.’
Q. What is an image? Comment on the vivid imagery used in the poem The
Daffodils?
Ans) Images are word pictures that poets use to invoke thoughts and emotions.
They are used for dramatic effect to evoke a host of feelings and emotions in a few
words. An image touches us in three ways that is intellectual, emotional and
sensual. For instance, In the poem, the image of the breeze is not merely a visual
image but also a tactile one—one that can be felt.

Q. What is the poet’s state of mind in the beginning of the poem and what
simile he has used to depict that?
Ans) At the beginning of the poem, the poet is loitering alone, aimlessly in a state
of loneliness and detachment. He compares himself to a floating cloud above
valleys and hills. The simile of floating cloud suggests the sense of detachment.
The image of a single cloud emphasizes the sense of detachment. It passes high
over vales and hills thus suggesting the poet’s mood of estrangement and isolation.

Q. How the poet has described the daffodils?

Ans) The poet compares the daffodils to the stars in brightness as well as in
numbers. Growing along the curve of the lake, the daffodils remind him of the
stars that shine along the curve of the heavens. They seem to be as numerous and
unending as the stars above. Just as if one look up at the night sky one can take in
the immeasurability of the stars in one glance; similarly Wordsworth sees hundreds
and thousands of flowers in a single glance. But the flowers are not standing
stationary. They are acted upon by the breeze, moving and tossing their heads in a
dance of joy. The flowers are tossing their heads about, reverberating in joy.