William Wordsworth (1770-1850), a great Romantic poet, changed the course of English poetry. When many poets still wrote about great kings, queens and heroes in a grand style, Wordsworth focussed on nature, children and common people, and used simple language to express his feelings.
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 but be gay,
In such a 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.
When all at once
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Why are the daffodils compared to the stars in the sky ?
How did the daffodils compete with the waves on the lake ? What does the 'jocund company' do to the speaker ?