I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is one of the most famous and best-loved poems written in
the English language. It was composed by Romantic poet William Wordsworth around 1804,
though he subsequently revised it—the final and most familiar version of the poem was published
in 1815. The poem is based on one of Wordsworth's own walks in the countryside of England's
Lake District. During this walk, he and his sister encountered a long strip of daffodils. In the poem,
these daffodils have a long-lasting effect on the speaker, firstly in the immediate impression they
make and secondly in the way that the image of them comes back to the speaker's mind later on.
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a quintessentially Romantic poem, bringing together key ideas
about imagination, humanity and the natural world.
The Full Text of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

I III
I wandered lonely as a cloud The waves beside them danced; but they
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
When all at once I saw a crowd, A poet could not but be gay,
A host, of golden daffodils; In such a jocund company:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. What wealth the show to me had brought:

II IV
Continuous as the stars that shine For oft, when on my couch I lie
And twinkle on the milky way, In vacant or in pensive mood,
They stretched in never-ending line They flash upon that inward eye
Along the margin of a bay: Which is the bliss of solitude;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, And then my heart with pleasure fills,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. And dances with the daffodils.

1
 “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Summary
The speaker walks alone, similar to a solitary cloud in the sky floating over hills and
valleys. Suddenly, the speaker sees a long and bustling row of daffodils. They are near the lake
and the trees and flutter and shift as they are blown by the breeze.
Comparing the daffodils to stars in the sky, the speaker notes how the flowers seem to go on
without ending, alongside a bay. The speaker guesses there are ten thousand or so daffodils, all of
their heads moving as if they were dancing.
Near the daffodils, the waves are glinting on the bay. But the daffodils seem more joyful to the
speaker than the waves. A poet couldn't help being cheerful, says the speaker, in the cheerful
company of the daffodils. The speaker stares at the daffodils lingeringly, without yet realizing the
full extent of the positive effects of encountering them.
After the experience with the daffodils, the speaker often lies on the couch, either absent-
minded or thoughtful. It is then that the daffodils come back to the speaker's imaginative
memory—access to which is a gift of solitude—and fills the speaker with joy as his mind dances
with the daffodils.

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Summary

 The speaker walks alone, similar to a solitary cloud in the sky floating over hills and
valleys. Suddenly, the speaker sees a long and bustling row of daffodils. They are near the lake
and the trees and flutter and shift as they are blown by the breeze.

Comparing the daffodils to stars in the sky, the speaker notes how the flowers seem to go on
without ending, alongside a bay. The speaker guesses there are ten thousand or so daffodils, all of
their heads moving as if they were dancing.

Near the daffodils, the waves are glinting on the bay. But the daffodils seem more joyful to the
speaker than the waves. A poet couldn't help being cheerful, says the speaker, in the cheerful
company of the daffodils. The speaker stares at the daffodils lingeringly, without yet realizing the
full extent of the positive effects of encountering them.

After the experience with the daffodils, the speaker often lies on the couch, either absent-minded
or thoughtful. It is then that the daffodils come back to the speaker's imaginative memory—access
to which is a gift of solitude—and fills the speaker with joy as his mind dances with the daffo

2
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Themes

Nature and Humanity

Considered one of the most significant examples of Romantic poetry, “I Wandered Lonely
as a Cloud” explores the relationship between nature and humanity. In doing so, it makes two key
points. Firstly, it argues that humanity is not separate from nature, but rather part of it. And
secondly, it suggests that the natural world—and a strong bond with it—is essential to human
happiness. Though the reader might be fooled by the suggestion of solitude in the title, this is an
optimistic poem with a positive outlook on the world. This happiness is drawn from the speaker’s
interaction with nature, in turn encouraging the reader to appreciate the natural majesty that is all
around them.

The poem introduces the idea of loneliness in the first line, but the speaker is not really alone
at all. The speaker is in the presence of “a host of golden daffodils,” whose delicate “dancing” in
the wind has a long-lasting effect on the speaker’s mind. This set-up introduces a sense of
togetherness between humanity (represented by the speaker) and nature (represented by the
daffodils). And though this togetherness is partly rendered by the personification of the daffodils
that runs throughout the poem—they are “dancing” in every stanza—the speaker pre-emptively
flips this personification on its head in the very first line. Here, the speaker compares himself to a
natural element: a cloud. So, the human component of the poem is like nature, and the natural
component is like humanity. They are, in a word, together.

The poem suggests that this togetherness is something instinctive, and sometimes obvious
only in hindsight. It’s clear that the beauty of the daffodils had an instant impact on the speaker—
which is why the speaker “gazed and gazed”—but it was only later, when the experience “flashed”
again in the speaker's mind, that the speaker realized its full significance. In this quiet moment, the
speaker draws on the experience of the daffodils as an avenue to happiness. That is, everything
that the daffodils represent—joy, playfulness, survival, beauty—"fills” the speaker with “bliss”
and “pleasure.” In the speaker’s mind, the speaker is again dancing “with the daffodils.” The poem,
then, is arguing that communion with nature is not just a momentary joy, but something deeper
and long-lasting. The reader is left with the distinct impression that, without these types of

3
experiences with nature, the speaker would be returned to a genuine loneliness only hinted at by
the title.

Stanzas 2 and 3 also make it clear to the reader that the togetherness described above is, of
course, not solely about daffodils, but rather about nature more generally. “The stars” and “the
sparkling waves” are both mentioned, suggesting a series of links between the smaller, less
noticeable elements of the natural world (like the daffodils), humankind (like the speaker), and the
wider universe (the stars). All are presented as a part of nature; though they are different, they are
all in communion with one another. However, people have to make an effort to notice this and to
engage with the natural world like the speaker does. The poem, then, is an argument for active
engagement with nature—a message perhaps even more important now than it was at the time,
given humanity’s wide-ranging effects on the planet it inhabits.

Memory and Imagination

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” argues for a strong connection between experience, i

magination, and language. The poem itself is a memory, focused on bringing the speaker's
experience of seeing daffodils back to life on the page through the concentrated power of the
imagination. Like nature, the imagination was an integral part of the poetic universe of the
Romantics, and in this poem, the speaker shows the way in which a strong imagination—using the
“inward eye” of the mind—can bring back pleasant memories, create joy in the present, and even
pass joy along to others.

The poem is told retrospectively, with all the verbs up until the final stanza in the past tense:
the speaker is looking back on an experience from the past. It is, then, an effort on the speaker’s
part not just to recall an experience, but to breathe new life into it through the imagination. The
speaker doesn’t only want to acknowledge the experience, but somehow give it life again and, in
turn, conjure that same joyful feeling.

The success of this goal depends on the speaker and the reader working together. The
speaker strives to bring their experience with the daffodils into life on the page, and the reader is
asked to use their imagination to make this work. The reader, then, is called on to use their own
“inward eye,” just as the speaker describes in the final stanza. Primarily, this interplay between the
speaker's imagination and the reader's imagination is dependent on the personification of the

4
daffodils that runs throughout the poem. The speaker describes the daffodils as having human
characteristics, which are not meant to be taken literally but instead imaginatively. For example,
the “dancing” of the daffodils, referenced in every stanza, is actually just the effect of the wind.
But dancing, of course, is an inherently joyful activity. The speaker perceives visual similarities
between the daffodils’ movement and dance, and this imaginative leap deepens the speaker's own
connection to the experience. In essence, imagining the daffodils are dancing makes the
speaker feel more alive by witnessing the life in everything else.

The speaker also projects human emotion onto the daffodils: “jocund company” (jocund
means cheerful). Of course, the daffodils don’t experience the world in this way—the speaker is
seeing their own state of mind reflected back in the visual effect of the flowers. That imaginative
leap heightens the experience, arguably making the speaker feel a stronger connection to nature.
The poem in turn asks the reader to go through the same process. The reason for doing so is clear
from the final stanza. Here, the speaker describes being in a “vacant” or “pensive” mood— in other
words, these are times in which the speaker feels disengaged and detached from the world. Of
course, the imagination is the speaker's salvation—the image of the daffodils comes rushing back,
and even further, the speaker imaginatively goes back to the daffodils and “dances” with them.
The poem, then, argues that such imaginative acts can have positive effects for the reader, too.
Encouraging the reader toward imagination becomes the justification for the use of personification,
conceptualization, and poetic language that has come before. These choices weren't just
about describing the daffodils, but about engaging the reader’s imagination in experiencing them.
Throughout, the speaker links imagination to happiness, particularly in its capacity to bring
memories, if not back to life, into new life. The experience of the daffodils lives on in the speaker’s
and then the reader’s imagination. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is, then, an imaginative attempt
to not just recreate the speaker's experience, but to extend it into the mind of the reader. The poem
argues that this process is an important part of what it means to be human and, moreover, happy.

5
 Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

o Lines 1-2

The poem begins by establishing a sense of isolation—the set-up that the visual shock of
the daffodils will later break through. Whereas the rest of the poem functions through personifying
nature, the first line actually does the reverse. The speaker likens themselves—or specifically, their
"lonely" way of wandering—to a cloud. The effect of this simile is similar to that of the
later personification of the daffodils: both serve to link the speaker and nature together. The
speaker is a stand-in for humanity more generally, so this first line establishes that the poem is
about the relationship between mankind and the natural world. The comparison suggests that the
speaker is walking about without any particular purpose, building on the idea that clouds are
aimless (which in itself is a kind of built-in personification that often occurs when people look up
at the sky).

The language of the first line is delicate and simple, establishing a sense of calm that is
disrupted by the ecstatic joy of the daffodils' sudden appearance. The iambic tetrameter suggests
a steady but not urgent walking pace, and the consonance of /l/ sounds links "lonely" and "cloud"
together, reinforcing the idea of clouds as somehow isolated figures (of course, this is very
weather-dependent!).

The second line continues this airiness, with the enjambment at the end of line 1 allowing
the two lines together to breathe easily. The /l/ sounds are picked up again in "floats," "vales," and
"hills," but as this is a gentle sound, it only serves to underscore the calm atmosphere of the
opening. This is, of course, a short lull that is soon to be interrupted.

o Lines 3-6

Lines 3 and 4 introduce the central focus of the poem—the daffodils. Daffodils are bright
yellow flowers that herald the beginning of spring in Britain (which is part of a weather area called
the temperate climatic zone that includes four distinct seasons). Their sudden entrance into the
poem—"all at once"—is in itself a way of representing the way they suddenly bloom and mark a
distinct change between the seasons.

6
 The speaker uses two different collective nouns to describe the daffodils, both of which are
examples of personification. From first sight, the speaker perceives something human—or, more
accurately, something relevant to humanity—in the daffodils. Initially, the speaker describes the
daffodils as "a crowd," emphasizing their abundance and how they seem to be jostling for sunlight
and space. The speaker then modifies, perhaps clarifies, the use of "crowd" by employing "host."
Essentially, this word means "a large number," but it also occurs in biblical usage to describe a
group of angels. With angels being human-like creatures, the use of "host" both adds to the
personification of the daffodils and gently suggests a sense of divinity. The use of assonance in
lines 3 and 4 underscores the sheer number of daffodils—the words are dominated by /o/ sounds,
reinforcing this idea of abundance and crowdedness.

The final two lines of the stanza demonstrate that the daffodils, having appeared from
nowhere, suddenly seem to be all over the place, wherever the speaker looks. Line 5
uses caesura to allow the speaker to point the reader's imagination towards the daffodils by setting
them against the images of the "lake" and then the "trees."

Line 6 presents the first major variation in the meter, with a first-foot substitution that
replaces the steady iambs that have come before with a dactyl:

Flu-tter-ing | and danc | -ing in | the breeze

The rhythm here creates the sense of dance that is so important throughout the poem, lending
the daffodils delicate but noticeable movement. The first foot here has an almost waltz-like feel—
ONE-two-three.

o Lines 7-12

Like the first, the second stanza begins with a simile. This time, the speaker compares the
daffodils with the stars in order to emphasize their sheer number. Just as on a good night the star-
gazer's view is full of stars, the daffodils seem never to end. Essentially, then, this stanza's main
purpose is to expand on the sight of the daffodils. But the association with the stars also lends the
daffodils a cosmic quality, supporting the idea that the speaker is witnessing something essential
to existence itself—in this case, the natural world and its connection to humankind.

7
 Both meter and sound contribute to this mind-bending sense of the universe in lines 7 and 8.
The word "continuous" adds an extra syllable to the line, making the line read iamb-anapest-iamb-
iamb:

Con-tin | u-ous as | the stars | that shine

The first word, then, embodies the idea of abundance, of thriving nature, through the extra
syllable.

The combination of sibilance in line 7 and assonance in lines 7 and 8 develops the
"twinkling" quality of the stars. The /s/ sounds across "continuous as," "stars," "shine," and the /i/
sounds of "continuous," "shine," "twinkle" and "milky" flash on and off like the stars in the night
sky. This sonic effect mirrors the way the light is catching on the heads of the daffodils.

Lines 9 and 10 restate the seemingly never-ending sight of the daffodils, this time using
assonant /e/ sounds to conjure the idea of the view being "stretched." Likewise, the enjambment at
the end of line 9 allows the continuous line of daffodils to be matched by the continuation of the
poetic line.

Line 11 represents the speaker's hyperbolic attempt to guess at the number of daffodils in
view. It is, of course, not a precise number, but one readily available in the speaker's mind that
generally represents a large quantity.

Line 12 returns to the personification running throughout the poem, and reinstates the
"dance" of the daffodils. The use of "tossing" personifies the daffodils by suggesting agency, in
that it is a deliberate movement (rather than an effect of the wind). Likewise, the reference to
dancing again gives the daffodils a degree of conscious decision-making. Of course, the speaker
doesn't really think the daffodils are deliberately dancing. But the personification allows the
speaker to read their own being into that of the daffodils--that is, to find common ground between
their existence as a human and the lively existence of the flowers.

8
 o Lines 13-18

The third stanza mentions dancing in its first line, setting it apart from the others, in all of
which dancing comes in the final line. It makes sense, because here the dancing belongs not to the
daffodils, but to the waves. It is, then, another personification, indicating that the speaker is
reading intention and agency into everything they see in nature. The caesura in line 13 interrupts
the image of the waves dancing and allows the speaker to state that the daffodils are superior in
"glee" to the "sparkling waves." That is, though the waves seem joyful, the daffodils are even more
so.

Lines 15 and 16 are seemingly light but actually contain the crux of the whole poem. That
is, they state categorically the link between the daffodils and the speaker's happiness. The
daffodils seem cheerful, and this mood passes on to the speaker. It's interesting, though, that the
speaker uses the word "poet" rather than "person." The daffodils have the capacity to imbue a
person with happiness, but, as the word choice implies, that person needs to have a certain
sensibility and way of perceiving the world. In short, they need to be engaged with nature and
ready to receive its sudden wonders, like the daffodils. Remember that the speaker is out for a walk
in the countryside—the speaker has already chosen to place themselves in a more natural
environment than a city or town. The poem, then, is an argument for this effort at connection with
nature; it seems to suggest that any person must take on the sensibility of a poet in order to
experience this kind of joy.

In line 17, the repetition of "gazed" emphasizes the length of time the speaker spends
looking at the daffodils. The speaker is in no hurry at all. As this poem is told in the past tense, the
rest of line 17 and line 18 can be read as an interjection from the poem's present, as the speaker
offers commentary on their experience with the daffodils. It's an interesting moment, because it
isn't as if the speaker hasn't made clear already that the daffodils had an important effect. The
speaker here implies that the experience of the daffodils became even more important afterwards,
and amounted to a kind of "wealth" (which calls back to the use of "golden" in line 4). The
irresolution of this thought sets up the final stanza, with the colon suggesting that what follows
will explain what the speaker is trying to say.

9
 o Lines 19-24

The fourth stanza contextualizes the three that have come before. It aims to make sense of
them, and to show the reader the deeper purpose behind the discussion of the daffodils. This stanza
brings the poem into its present moment, with the speaker offering context for the memory that
has come before. It makes clear that the experience of the daffodils was important for reasons
beyond the immediate boost to the speaker's mood. The daffodils have a lingering positive effect.

As in the first stanza, the speaker is alone. Here, the speaker talks of being in either a
"vacant" or "pensive" mood. "Vacant" can be taken to mean disconnected or absent-minded,
whereas "pensive" is more akin to worry—both seem to be undesirable states. In these moments,
the memory of the daffodils returns to the speaker, coming to visual life in the speaker's mind (the
"inward eye"). As a result, the speaker is joyful and feels a deep, spiritual connection with the
daffodils—the speaker figuratively joins them in their "dance" (which once again returns in the
final line of the stanza).

Some context about Wordsworth's poetic practice is vital here. In the preface to the Lyrical
Ballads, which set out Wordsworth's early ideas about poetry, he writes: "I have said that poetry
is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in
tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reaction, the tranquillity gradually
disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is
gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind."

The "spontaneous overflow" was the original experience with the daffodils. But this
experience gains its fullest value in the "solitude" mentioned in line 22, when these emotions—
joy, cheerful abandon, connection to nature—can be "recollected" and "contemplated." For
Wordsworth, this process makes the emotion return in a kind of pure, spiritual form, to the point
that it "actually exists in the mind." The poem, then, emphasizes the importance of the imagination
to human experience. Here, the speaker draws upon the sensory joy of the daffodils and feels a
union with nature through the act of imaginative contemplation. This adjusts the meaning of what
has come before. Just as the experience outlined in the final stanza depends upon memory, the
poem itself is a product of that active, imaginative remembering. That is, the beauty of what has
come before is a way of showing the importance of imaginative interaction with the world.

10
 The long vowels in lines 19 and 20 create a sense of moodiness and stasis, which is then
disrupted by the sudden sound of the word "flash." This mimics the daffodils' reappearance in the
speaker's mind, and links assonantly with "dances" and "daffodils." The flowers figuratively
dance back into the speaker's mind and bring "pleasure;" this pleasure is not a sensual one, but
something more spiritual and deeply felt.

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Symbols

Daffodils

It's obvious who the stars of the show in this poem are—the daffodils. The whole poem
revolves around them, and any other images in the text are only there to support the overall
impression of the daffodils.

The first aspect of the daffodils' symbolism exists outside any associations made in the poem.
In the United Kingdom, the blooming of daffodils traditionally symbolizes the arrival of spring.
So the daffodils in Wordsworth's poem already act as heralds of renewal, rebirth and new
beginnings even before the poem adds its own associations or meanings to the flowers.

In "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," the daffodils also represent nature's incredible capacity
for beauty, and its ability to manifest that beauty in subtle and innovative ways. Accordingly, this
symbolism drives part of the poem's implicit argument that people should take more notice of
nature—that they should take their time, look more closely, and marvel at the natural world's
incredible variety of forms.

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

o Personification

Personification is so prominent within "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" that it can almost
be considered the poem's "mode." This device mainly functions by ascribing human emotions to
the natural world. This is not a one-way exchange, however—it is part of an overall argument for
a closer relationship between humanity and nature. In seeing elements of itself in nature, humanity
can see itself as part of nature.

11
 Three different aspects of nature are personified in the poem. The first personification occurs
in the first line. It's subtle, because it's wrapped up in the speaker comparing themselves to a
cloud—which is, in fact, the reverse of personification. But the speaker characterizes their
"wandering" as "lonely," and specifically akin to the loneliness of "a cloud." In reality, loneliness
is a human emotion and, of course, not one felt by clouds. This personification helps to link the
human speaker with the natural environment in which they walk.

The main personification applies to the daffodils. They are described as a "crowd" and a
"host" (the latter of which also has the subtle connotation of relating to angels), and on three
occasions they are said to be "dancing." Dance is particularly important—people dance as an
expression of joy, and/or as a method of togetherness. Dance has also played a key role in human
history as a ritualistic expression of spirituality. As the poem is about joy, togetherness with nature,
and a spiritual way of seeing humankind's place in nature, the projection of dancing movement
onto the daffodils reinforces all of these ideas.

The third personification is in line 13, when the waves are also described as dancing. Here,
there is a sense that the speaker is perceiving nature in motion, and though the daffodils "outdo"
the waves in joyfulness, the overall effect is that the entire scene contains an essence fundamental
to human happiness.

o Simile

Simile occurs twice in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." The first instance is in the first line,
when the speaker compares their own lonely wandering to a solitary cloud (presumably solitary,
because otherwise the simile wouldn't make much sense). This is a simple usage that ties the
speaker, as a human, to the natural environment.

The second simile is in line 7, when the daffodils are compared to the stars in the night sky.
More specifically, the abundance of the daffodils—their continuousness—is likened to the
seemingly limitless number of stars in the heavens. On the most practical level, this simile
highlights how many daffodils the speaker can see. But it also serves another important function:
it links the daffodils with something more universal, tying together their beauty with the entire
cosmology of existence. Of course, this has subtle religious connotations, linking the idea of

12
natural abundance with concepts associated with the sky—religion, spirituality, the infinite, and
so on.

o Assonance

Assonance is used to great effect throughout "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." A prominent
example occurs across lines 3 and 4, when an abundance of /o/ sounds signals the shocking and
sudden sight of the numerous daffodils. The /o/s jostle for space, just as the daffodils do along the
bay. The relevant words here are "crowd," "host," "golden" and "daffodils."

In lines 7 and 8, /i/ sounds seem to blink on and off, mimicking the visual image of the stars
twinkling in the night sky. The /i/ sound is contained in "continuous," "shine," "twinkle" and
"milky"—all of which are conceptually tied to the image of stars. In the following line—line 9—
the vowel sound changes to a long /e/, which develops the image of the daffodils "stretching,"
seemingly without limit.

The use of the /a/ sound in "flash" (line 21) is a sudden disruption to the prior vowel sounds,
and then chimes with "heart," "dances", and "daffodils" later in the stanza. It mimics the way in
which the daffodils suddenly reappear in the speaker's mind, and ties them together with the
speaker's "heart," which reinforces the deep connection between nature and human happiness.

o Consonance

Consonance crops up throughout "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud." In the first line, the /d/
sounds in "wandered" and "cloud" yoke these two words together, emphasizing a sense of aimless
movement. The same sound in "golden daffodils" has a luxuriant ring to it, which ties into the idea
of the (spiritual) "wealth" (line 18) to be found in nature.

There are also a number of /t/ sounds throughout the poem. The most prominent use is in
"fluttering," which then makes each later reoccurrence gently suggest of this motion. The /t/ sounds
peak in the second stanza, which aptly concludes with the speaker estimating the number of
daffodils as "ten thousand." The use of "ten" here is not arbitrary, but rather confirms the link
between the /t/ sound and the abundance of "dancing" daffodils. The choice of "tossing" and the
"t" in "sprightly" develop this further.

13
 In the same stanza, the /k/ sounds in "twinkle" and "milky way" draw them together
conceptually. The delicateness of the sound evokes the idea of faint but perceptible light.

o Alliteration

Alliteration is quite rare in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," with Wordsworth generally
opting for a combination of assonance and consonance to achieve the appropriate sonic effects.

In line 2, "high" and "hills" alliterate to create a sense of airiness that enhances the poem's
outdoor atmosphere.

In the third stanza, four words begin with /w/, two of which are "waves." The repetition of
the word is gently suggestive of the waves going in and out of the bay, whereas the sound of "what
wealth" emphasizes the idea of spiritual nourishment.

By far the most significant alliterative moment occurs in the final line, when the speaker
restates the link between "dances" and "daffodils." The flowers have brought joy to the poet, and
this last line represents a kind of purification of that joy. The use of /d/s has a musicality to it that
evokes dancing, and as well as a child-like playfulness in keeping with a "heart" full of "pleasure."

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

o Form

The form of "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is relatively simple. The poem consists of
four sestets (six-line stanzas), adding up to twenty-four lines in total. It is told in the past tense up
until the final stanza, which means that the reader imaginatively participates in the speaker's
memory as the speaker reconstructs it. For example, just as the daffodils appeared suddenly to the
speaker, they also enter suddenly in line 4. Lines 3 till halfway through line 17 all develop the
description of the daffodils, emphasizing their human-like dancing, their visual beauty, and their
abundance.

Line 17 marks the main shift in the poem—when the speaker introduces a wider context as
to why they feel the experience of the daffodils is important. The colon at the end of line 18—and
this is the only stanza with an end like this—indicates that the fourth stanza will explain the nature
of the "wealth" the speaker feels the daffodils have provided.

14
 The final stanza, then, makes the poem's purpose clear. The speaker feels the rewards of the
experience with the daffodils as an on-going process. The memory, brought to life by "solitude,"
brings back the daffodils to the speaker's imagination and fills the speaker with happiness. Solitude
and the imagination, then, are shown to allow people access to a particular type of joy that is linked
to experiences in the natural world.

o Meter

The meter in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is consistently iambic tetrameter, with a few
careful and deliberate exceptions. Generally, the iambic tetrameter has an almost walking pace in
line with the poem's main set-up: the speaker "wandering" in the countryside. The lines are mostly
even and measured, similar to purposeful but unhurried footsteps.

The first variation of the iambic tetrameter occurs in line 6, in which the first foot is
substituted for a dactyl:

Flut-ter-ing | and dan- | -cing in | the breeze

This change emphasizes the movement contained in the word "fluttering," making it sudden.
Likewise, the three syllables in the first foot have an almost waltz-like feel, anticipating the use of
"dancing" throughout the poem.

Line 7 provides the next disruption of the meter, with an extra syllable in "continuous"
making the line literally longer, which mimics the long line of daffodils.

Line 12 has a trochee substituted in the first foot, serving a very similar function to the earlier
substitution in line 6 and making the meter of the mirror the motion of the daffodils.

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” Setting

The poem is, on the one hand, set outdoors in the countryside. It's well-documented that the
poem was inspired by one of Wordsworth's walks in England's Lake District, but the text of the
poem doesn't state that explicitly. Accordingly, the poem's outdoors doesn't have to be limited to
the specific place that gave Wordsworth the idea. The reader gets a clear sense that the countryside
scene is well away from any other sign of humanity—hence the speaker's isolation—and is in a
landscape with "vales and hills." Likewise, it is a pleasant climate and is early spring. Daffodils,

15
in fact, are often the herald of spring in places like England, and their sudden shock of yellow is a
remarkable sight.

On the other hand, the poem's setting is also the speaker's psyche, what the speaker
describes as an "inward eye." The poem is told in the first-person past tense until the final stanza,
which situates the reader within the speaker's memory. This figurative setting is clarified at the
end when the speaker discusses the merits of this kind of imaginative memory which, the reader
now understands, they have been witnessing at work and even participating in.

Historical Context

The poem was begun in 1804, but the particular walk that it is based on took place in 1802.
There are two key events important to the context here. The first is the French Revolution in 1789
which, though of course it took place in France, had a strong effect on the intellectual and
ideological atmosphere of early 19th-century England. Its purported ideals of liberty, brotherhood
and equality were considered noble ambitions, and Wordsworth supported them initially. He and
Coleridge were even at one point suspected of being French spies.

The second piece of key historical context is less an event than a gradual but sweeping
change that came over much of Europe from about the 1760s onwards—the Industrial Revolution.
This period saw a rapid increase in mechanized labor, pollution, and population density, which in
part informed the Romantic emphasis on people somehow returning to, or communing with, the
natural environment. This poem, of course, is a clear example of that emphasis.

16