This document provides a critical analysis of William Wordsworth's nature poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud". It begins with biographical information about Wordsworth and contextual details about the poem. It then analyzes each stanza, describing how the poet is surprised by a vast field of daffodils dancing in the breeze and is inspired by their beauty. The analysis explains that the memory of this scene brings the poet joy and inspiration when recalled during solitary moments. Themes of the poem include beauty, nature, happiness, and overcoming loneliness.

1. Critical Study of
Wordsworth’s Nature
Poem: ‘I Wandered
Lonely as a Cloud’
Prepared by Khushi Rathod
Department of English, MKUB

2. Personal Information
Name :- Khushi R. Rathod
Roll No :-25
Enrollment No :- 5108230039
Semester :-1
Paper No :- 105(A)
Paper Code :- 223926
Paper Name :- History of English Literature-From 1350 to 1900
Topic :- Critical Study of Wordsworth Nature Poem: ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’
Presented at :-Smt.S.B.Gardi,Department of English,MKBU
E-mail :-khushirathod1863@gmail.com

3. 01.
William Wordsworth
02.
Introduction
03.
About the poem &
Themes
04.
Conclusion
Table of
contents

4. Born :- 7 April, 1770
Died :- 23 April, 1850
Occupation :- Poet
Literary period :- Romantic
Genre :- Romantic poetry,
Romantic literature
William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)

5. ● Mother died when he was eight, father died when he was
thirteen.
● Attended Hawkshead Grammar School, then St. John's
College, Cambridge.
● Traveled to Europe in 1790, met Samuel Taylor
Coleridge in 1795.
● Published Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge in 1798.
● Married Mary Hutchinson in 1802, had five children
together.
● Published The Prelude posthumously in 1850.

6. Famous Poems :-
Tintern Abbey
(Published :-1798)
London
(Published :- 1802)
The Solitary Reaper
(Published :- 1807)

7. Resolution and Independence
(Published :- 1807)
To a Butterfly
(Published :- 1807)

8. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
● Written by William Wordsworth.
● Original name :- Daffodils
● Published :- 1807
● Originally published in 2 volumes.
● Revision in 1815.
● Poem divided in Four Stanza
● Every Stanza in 6 lines
● He inspiration for the poem came from he walk
with his sister Dorothy in lake District.

10. ● The poet, wandering aimlessly, is surprised by a vast field of daffodils dancing
and fluttering in the breeze. He personifies the flowers, calling them a "crowd"
and a "host," and describing them as dancing and fluttering like butterflies. The
scene's beauty inspires him to describe the landscape in vivid detail, including
the valleys, lakes, trees, flowers, and clouds.
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.
First Stanza :-

11. ● The poet compares the daffodils to stars, describing them as a "never-ending
line" that stretches out like the Milky Way. He uses hyperbolic language to say
that there are "ten thousand" daffodils, and he personifies them again by saying
that they "dance."
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.
Second Stanza :-

12. ● The poet, gazing upon the dancing daffodils, cannot help but be happy. He forgets
his surroundings and loses himself in the beauty of the scene. He does not yet
realize the wealth of happiness that the daffodils have brought him, but he will later
cherish the memory of this day.
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:
Third Stanza :-

13. ● The poet explains why the daffodils have brought him so much wealth of
happiness. Whenever he is alone or in a thoughtful mood, the memory of the
daffodils flashes before his mind's eye, bringing him joy and inspiration. He calls
this memory "a bliss of solitude."
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.
Fourth Stanza :-

14. Themes :-
Beauty
Flowers
Happiness
Landscapes
Loneliness
Nature

15. Conclusion :-
This is a beautiful poem that captures nature at
its finest. Each line reveals how man and nature
and entwined with each other and how nature
had the power even to eradicate the loneliness
present in human beings.

16. References :-
Parrish, Maxfield. “William Wordsworth | Biography, Facts, Daffodils, & Poems.” Britannica,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Wordsworth. Accessed 9 November 2023.
Wordsworth, William. “[I wandered lonely as a Cloud] by William Wordsworth - Poems | Academy
of American Poets.” Poets.org, https://poets.org/poem/i-wandered-lonely-cloud. Accessed 9
November 2023
YouTube, 9 March 2019, https://literaryenglish.com/summary-analysis-of-daffodils-by-william-.
Accessed 9 November 2023.
.

17. Thank
You