stylistic poem analysis. English literature.

1. Presentation by
Rasel Ahmed
ID: 1220425015

2. I Wandered Lonely
as a Cloud
William Wordsworth

3. William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was born on April 17, 1770,
just outside the Lake District in the quaint market
town of Cocker mouth, Cumbria.

4. William Wordsworth
He was one of the greatest romantic poets in the 19 –
century England.
He belongs to the Romantic school of poetry.
Poets of this school are very interested in nature, which
has a great effect on their poetry.
Studied at Cambridge University
Death Date: April 23, 1850

5. Introduction (about the poem)
 William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
" also known as “ The daffodils” is a lyric poem
focusing on the poet's response to the beauty of nature
 The final version of the poem was first published
in Collected Poems in 1815. An earlier version was
published in Poems in Two Volumes in 1807 as a three-stanza
poem. The final version has four stanzas.
.

6. Setting and Background Information
The poem recaptures a moment on April 15, 1802. when
Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, were walking near Lake
Ullswater in Grasmere, Cambria County, England, and came
across a "long belt" of golden daffodils.
Wordsworth sister Dorothy, played an important part in his life
and she also influenced him with her love of nature.

7. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

8. I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils):
Rhyme, Form & Meter
"I wandered lonely as a Cloud" has a fairly
simple form that fits its simple and folksy
theme and language. It consists of four stanzas
with six lines each, for a total of 24 lines.
The rhyme scheme is also simple: ABABCC.
The last two lines of each stanza rhyme like
the end of a Shakespearean sonnet, so each
stanza feels independent and self-sufficient.

9. Figures of speech

10. •Stanza one:
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.

11. Figures of Speech (stanza
one):
‘I wondered lonely as a cloud.’
Simile: The poet compares himself to a cloud walking without
an aim.
The poet used alliteration in:
-Line 2: ‘That floats on high o’er vales and hills’.
The ‘h’ sound as in high, and hills.
Line 5: ‘Beside the lake, beneath the trees,’.
The ‘b’ sound as in beside, and beneath.

12. Stanza one
‘Golden daffodils.’
Metaphor: The poet compares the yellow daffodils to
gold in their bright color.
‘Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’
Personification: The poet personifies the daffodils
to people who can move and dance.

13. 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 thousands saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance

14. Figures of Speech (stanza two):
1- ‘Continuous as the stars that shine’
Simile: The poet compares the daffodils to stars
in their huge number and their shiny appearance.
2- ‘Tossing their heads in sprightly dance’
Personification: The poet personifies the
daffodils as human beings moving their heads quickly.

15. Stanza three:
The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed – and gazed – but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought

16. Figures of Speech (stanza
three):
‘The waves beside them danced’ & ‘they
outdid the sparkling waves in glee’
Personification: The poet personifies the waves as
human beings dancing and feeling happy.
The poet used alliteration in:
-Line 1: The ‘b’ sound as in beside, and but.
-Line 1: The ‘th’ sound as in the, them and they.
Line 6: The ‘w’ sound as in what, and wealth.

17. Stanza four:
For often, 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 pleasures fills,
and dances with the daffodils.

18. Figures of Speech (stanza
four):
The poet used alliteration in:
-Line 1: The ‘o’ sound as in often, and on.
-Line 3: The ‘th’ sound as in they, and that.
-Line 6: The ‘d’ sound as in dances, and daffodils.
2- ‘my heart …. dances with the daffodils’.
Personification: The poet personifies his heart as
a human being who is dancing

19. Figures of speech(Apostrophe: ):
“I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; ”.The poet
apostrophizes the daffodils and describes them in
their large number as a crowd of people. Also , “In
such a jocund company “The poets addresses the
flowers as human beings and describes them as a
happy company of good friends .

20. Repetition:
In third stanza, poet repeated the word “gazed” two
times.
The word "dance" is repeated 3 times in this poem. In
the 1st stanza, it denotes the happiness and liveliness
of the flowers. In the 2nd stanza, it creates a sense of
harmonious relationship between the daffodils and the
waves. In the last stanza, it refers that this harmony is
advanced to include the poet himself.

21. Lexical pattern:
In first stanza, The poet used contrast between “ lonely” and
“crowd” & “o’er “ and “ beneath.” The poet used contrast to
stress and emphasize the meaning.
This poem contains four stanza and all are talking about poet’s
imagination on nature. Poet use maximum nature related words.
The poet describes nature by describing the daffodils and
comparing them to stars and waves.
He is also writing about himself in relation to nature. Nature is
a source of happiness.

22. Nature of literary communication
 In this poem, poet himself is an addresser or sender.
Through the whole poem, poet explaining his thought as
monologue.
 There is no addressee appears in this poem. Poet
directly talking with his audience and sharing his feeling
and thought about nature (daffodils). So, we are the
receiver here.

23. Grammar And Sentence
 William Wordsworth uses a complete sentence with subject
and predicate.
 There are six sentences Unit and Trunk in the entire poem.
 The title of the poem itself is in a complete sentence. Aside
from using complete sentences, the author also makes a
vivid description of the daffodils by using several predicate
to describe the scenery.
 Wordsworth likes to begin each stanza by using a complete
sentence and he expands it by using elaborate predicates
and clauses.

24. I wandered lloonneellyy aass aa CClloouudd ((DDaaffffooddiillss))
sseemmaannttiicc aannaallyyssiiss
The poet starts his poem by painting a picture of himself
walking aimlessly, like a cloud in the sky when suddenly he saw
a group of beautiful golden daffodils
This whole poem was powers of imagination. Whatever he say,
all came from his imagination. By his imagination power,
William Wordsworth wrote this romantic poem where we find
his romance with nature.

25. Semantic (Main Theme of the poem)
Nature' s beauty uplifts the human spirit .
Theme of { Happiness } :” Fluttering and dancing in
the breeze “ maybe the poem just makes us feel good
about life by using the power of imagination .
the theme of loneliness : 'I wandered lonely as a cloud.'
that could be affected by daily routines .
theme of rejecting city life and going back to the
Mother Nature .
o Memory and the Past : the poet can always draw on his
imagination to reproduce the joy of the event and to
remember the spiritual wisdom that it provided
o powers of imagination .

26. Semantic analysis (City life vs. Nature)
Wordsworth try to explain the difference between city life and
nature (rural). Through the lines, the shift of the poet feelings is
very clear.
Firstly, he complains about the corrupted world, which lacks
cooperation and harmony, so he wanders lonely and hopeless.
He prefers to get away from other people as if being with them
brings him nothing but more sadness and loneliness.
However, seeing the golden daffodils cheered him up because they
welcomed him. "A host, of golden daffodils" shows that the poet
ran away from city life and took nature as a shelter to protect him
from the world's corruption.

27. References
Spark Notes (2010). I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud.
Retrieved from
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/wordsworth/section7.rht
ml
Mathew, P. (1997). Academy of American poets. [Web log
post]. Retrieved from
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/2968
Samuel, K. (N.P). Biography of William Wordsworth. BBC.
Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wordsworth_w
illiam.shtml