Life and work of william wordsworth and the theme in the poem “the daffodils”

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Topic: Life and work of William Wordsworth and the theme in the poem “The
Daffodils”
Outline
I. Introduction about William Wordsworth
I.1 The life
I.2 The work
II. Wordsworth on nature and man
II.1 Wordsword on nature
II.2 Wordsword on Man
III. The theme of poem “The Daffodils”
III.1 The writing situation
III.2 The theme of the poem
IV. Conclusion


I. Introduction about William Wordsworth
I.1. The life of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (1770-1850), British poet, credited with ushering in the English
Romantic Movement with the publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798) in collaboration with
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the
Lake District, United Kingdom. His father was John Wordsworth, Sir James Lowther's
attorney.

The magnificent landscape deeply affected Wordsworth's imagination and gave him a
love of nature. He lost his mother when he was eight and five years later his father. The
domestic problems separated Wordsworth from his beloved and neurotic sister Dorothy, who
was a very important person in his life.
With the help of his two uncles, Wordsworth entered a local school and continued his
studies at Cambridge University. Wordsworth made his debut as a writer in 1787 when he
published a sonnet in The European Magazine. In that same year he entered St. John's
College, Cambridge, from where he took his B.A. in 1791.
During a summer vacation in 1790 Wordsworth went on a walking tour through
revolutionary France and also traveled in Switzerland. On his second journey in France,
Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, a daughter of a barber-surgeon,
by whom he had an illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. The affair was basis of the poem
"Vaudracour and Julia", but otherwise Wordsworth did his best to hide the affair from
posterity.
In 1795 he met Coleridge. Wordsworth's financial situation became better in 1795
when he received a legacy and was able to settle at Racedown, Dorset, with his sister
Dorothy.
Encouraged by Coleridge and stimulated by the close contact with nature,
Wordsworth composed his first masterwork, Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge's
"Ancient Mariner." About 1798 he started to write a large and philosophical autobiographical
poem, completed in 1805, and published posthumously in 1850 under the title The Prelude.
Wordsworth spent the winter of 1798-99 with his sister and Coleridge in Germany,
where he wrote several poems, including the enigmatic 'Lucy' poems. After return he moved
Dove Cottage, Grasmere, and in 1802 married Mary Hutchinson. They cared for
Wordsworth's sister Dorothy for the last 20 years of her life.
Wordsworth's second verse collection, Poems, In Two Volumes, appeared in 1807.
Wordsworth's central works were produced between 1797 and 1808. His poems written
during middle and late years have not gained similar critical approval. Wordsworth's
Grasmere period ended in 1813. He was appointed official distributor of stamps for
Westmoreland. He moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he spent the rest of his life. In

later life Wordsworth abandoned his radical ideas and became a patriotic, conservative public
man.


In 1843 he succeeded Robert Southey (1774-1843) as England's poet laureate.
Wordsworth died on April 23, 1850.
I.2.The work of William Wordsworth
 In 1791 he graduated from Cambridge and traveled abroad. While in France he fell in
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love with Annette Vallon, who bore him a daughter, Caroline, in 1792.
The spirit of the French Revolution had strongly influenced Wordsworth, and he
returned (1792) to England imbued with the principles of Rousseau and
republicanism.
In 1793 were published An Evening Walk and Descriptive Sketches, written in the
stylized idiom and vocabulary of the 18th cent.
In Dorsetshire Wordsworth became the intimate friend of Samuel
Taylor Coleridge and, probably under his influence, a student of David Hartley's
empiricist philosophy. Together the two poets wrote Lyrical Ballads (1798), in which
they sought to use the language of ordinary people in poetry

In 1799 he and his sister moved to the Lake District of England, where they lived the
remainder of their lives.
In 1802 Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, an old school friend; the union was
evidently a happy one, and the couple had four children. The Prelude, his long
autobiographical poem, was completed in 1805, though it was not published until
after his death
Thereafter, Wordsworth's creative powers diminished. Nonetheless, some notable
poems were produced after this date, including The Excursion (1814), "Laodamia"
(1815), "White Doe of Rylstone" (1815), Memorials of a Tour of the Continent,
1820 (1822), and "Yarrow Revisited" (1835).
In 1842 Wordsworth was given a civil list pension, and the following year, having
long since put aside radical sympathies, he was named poet laureate.

II. Wordsworth on nature and man
II.1. Wordsworth on nature
Nature has a dominant role in Wordsworth’s poetry. So, he is called the poet of
nature. His poetry reveals his deeply spiritual and emotional response to nature. He portrays
nature’s beauty in his imagery. Nature has a tremendous impact on Wordsworth’s
imagination. He delights in depicting the visual beauty of various locations.
There are three points in his creed of Nature may be noted. Firstly, he conceived of
Nature as a living Personality. He believed that there is a divine spirit pervading all the
objects of Nature. This belief in a divine spirit pervading all the objects of Nature may be
termed as mystical Pantheism and is fully expressed in Tintern Abbey and in several passages
in Book II of The Prelude. Secondly, Wordsworth believed that the company of Nature gives
joy to the human heart and he looked upon Nature as exercising a healing influence on
sorrow-stricken hearts. Finally, Wordsworth emphasized the moral influence of Nature. He
spiritualised Nature and regarded her as a great moral teacher, as the best mother, guardian


and nurse of man, and as an elevating influence. He believed that between man and Nature

there is mutual consciousness, spiritual communion or ‘mystic intercourse’. He initiates his
readers into the secret of the soul’s communion with Nature. According to him, human beings
who grow up in the lap of Nature are perfect in every respect.
He finds out as well as establishes in his poems a cordial, passionate, impressive,
emotional, intellectual, spiritual and inseparable relationship between nature and human life.
According to him, all created things are parts of a unified whole.
II.2. Wordsworth on man
Wordsworth is perhaps not as good at describing the natural landscape as a number of
other poets. As a purely descriptive poet he is highly capable, but his real genius lies in
showing what happens when the innate power of Nature meets the power of perception of
human mind, it is as if the individual’s perception of Nature, its awe, power and capacity to
teach, is what matters, rather than nature itself, it is the interaction of Nature and human
nature that enlivens and stimulates him. Instead of placing man and nature in opposition,
Wordsworth views them as complementary elements of a whole, recognizing man as a part of
nature. Hence, Wordsworth looks at the world and sees not an alien force against which he
must struggle, but rather a comforting entity of which he is a part. Wordsworth’s poetry also
celebrates the healing influence of nature on the human spirit. Writing poetry became therapy
for Wordsworth.
William Wordsworth has chosen the theme of nature to convey the secret longing
about a beautiful and glorious world. In that place, man and nature as a harmony with the
infinite joy that a life of freedom and peace. Besides the natural poetry Wordsworth is also
the world people who love freedom to burning. Thus, the journey to look for spiritual
freedom, Wordsworth turned to the theme of Nature and Man as his special style. In the
beautiful nature pictures, people appear with love of freedom, love of nature, love of things.
They also love life, love freedom as his breathing and are portrayed as symbols of freedom
desire of simple people.
III. The theme of poem “The Daffodils”
III.1 The writing situation of “The Daffodils”
“The Daffodils” known as “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is a famous poem written
in 1804 by William Wordsworth. “The Daffodils” is one of the most popular poems of the

Romantic
Age, unfolding the poet's excitement, love and praise for a field blossoming with
daffodils. It was inspired by an April 15, 1802 event, in which Wordsworth and his sister,
Dorothy, came across a “long belt” of daffodils on a walk near Ullswater Lake in England.
This poem was first published in 1807, and a revised version was released in 1815. Just
reading the first verses, we can feel the time and space William wrote “The Daffodils”. The
inspiration for this poem may have been drawn from a walk he took with his sister Dorothy
around Lake Ullswater.


“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills …
… Beside the lake, beneath the trees”
His sister Dorothy later wrote in her journal as a reference to this walk: “When we
were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow Park, we saw a few daffodils close to the water side.
We fancied that the lake had floated the seed ashore and that the little colony had so sprung
up. But as we went along there were more and more and at last under the boughs of the trees,
we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore, about the breadth of a country
turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and
about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the
rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that
blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever dancing ever changing. This wind
blew directly over the lake to them. There was here and there a little knot and a few stragglers
a few yards higher up but they were so few as not to disturb the simplicity and unity and life
of that one busy highway. We rested again and again. The Bays were stormy, and we heard
the waves at different distances and in the middle of the water like the sea.” (Extracted from
Dorothy Wordsworth, The Grasmere Journal, Thursday, 15 April 1802).
Just the love of nature, especially the love of the beauty of daffodils, and the above
notes helped William Wordsworth write the poem “The daffodils”, which was considered as
the most successful work of William Wordsworth and made strong impressions on many

generations of readers.
III.2 The theme of the Daffodils
The Daffodils is one of Wordsworth's famous poems. It is simple, sparse and
pastoral. Wordsworth liked these themes. Much of his poetry resonates with themes of
nature.The theme of the poem "Daffodils"is its loneliness and beauty ofthe nature.William
Wordsworth especially wrote poems based onromanticism and loneliness of human beings.
The feeling of the poet will be demonstrated through the poem, through the image of
daffodils, the poet shows his feeling.Thanks to these glorious daffodils, the emotion of the
poet changes from the loneliness to the happiness.An in-depth analysis of the poem will show
the themes that William Wordsworth want to send his readers.
In the first stanza, the feeling of loneliness of the poet is expressed opposite to the
daffodils. Wordsworth describes himself as a ‘cloud’ that floats over the hills. This presents
an idea of seclusion. As human form Wordsworth prefers seclusion but the ‘crowd’ of
daffodils bewilders his senses.The poet becomes a part of nature. He floats above and feels a
kinship with the gentle elements. He describes his experience of the sight ‘ a host of
daffodils’ during the lonely walk, the daffodils delights him with their beauty and their
dance.The daffodils appeared so beautifully that he was compelled to gaze at these flowers
playing with pleasure in the wind. How glorious and plentiful these daffodils were! Maybe
this was also the first time he had come across such an immense field of daffodils along the
shore.


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 second stanza, both the poet and the cloud are floating on high, when he saw a
field full of golden daffodils. Both he and the cloud are aspects of the world, which is

subjected to the laws of nature but they can still retain their freedom in spite of this. Other
images in the poem reinforce this – the 'lake' 'trees' 'cloud' and 'waves' are all natural images
and the daffodils give the clear focus of the poem which predominately makes nature the
most important feature throughout the host of golden daffodils. The poem was inspired by the
sight of a field full of golden daffodils waving in the wind. These daffodils are located in the
countryside near a lake and trees and are also seen to move continually in a dance.
Wordsworth expresses feelings for nature through these symbolic objects.He personifies the
daffodils as dancers, dancing gaily as part of the beauty of nature to emphasize on their
liveliness.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in a never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
To William Wordsworth, the daffodils appeared to be as continuous as the twinkling
stars on the Milky Way galaxy. They were arrayed in a seemingly un-ending line along the
bank of the bay. To the poet, it seemed as if ten thousand daffodils were bobbing in the
gentle breeze and he imagined them to be engaged in a lively dance.Like the Milky Way
galaxy, the flowers are roughly concentrated in a line that seems to stretch as far as the eye
can see "never-ending". The flowers line the shore "margin" of a bay of thelake, which must
be a relatively large lake. We imagine the same effect with the flowers. It’s not as if there are
no flowers outside the shore of the lake, but most are concentrated on the shore.The speaker
takes in "ten thousand" dancing flowers at once. That’s a lot of daffodils. The poet is not
actually counting, but just guessing. The flowers "toss their hands" while dancing to the
wind. By "heads" we think he means the part of the flower with the petals, the weight of
which causes the rest of the flower to bob.


In the third stanza, the poet describes the effect that the flowers have on the poet, it is

the feeling of glee and friendliness between them.
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.
In this stanza, the poet starts to talk about the waves which are in the lake. The waves,
like the daffodils, are dancing. They are happy, therefore, they are moving as if they were
dancing in the lake besides the daffodils. The joy of the waves exceeds the joy of the
daffodils. The waves and the daffodils are humanized as they feel joy. But, the waves are
happier than the daffodils. This scene affects the poet and makes him happy. So, in the
company of happy daffodils and waves, the poet should be happy like them. In this
contemplation, everything in nature affects him, and makes him happy.When describing the
effect that the flowers have on the poet, there are many words associated with happiness as:
"glee", "gay", "jocund company", happiness caused by this experience, which everybody can
have. In line "I gazed—and gazed" is an act in which the poetic transformation takes place
spontaneously, without full consciousness on the poet’s part of what he is doing and "he little
thought" what this show meant to him.William describes the daffodils always as a single
monolithic body, without individual distinction: "ten thousand," "a crowd," "a host," "a
laughing company." There is no sense of individuation here, only a collective "they.". In
William's poem, the collective "they" of the daffodils is represented primarily in relation to
the isolated "I" of the narrator who describes them.
In the final stanza, "the inward eye" reminds him what he has experienced and in the
tranquility he can recollect these thoughts in the solitude of his house, moreover he realizes
what this show meant and his heart is filled with pleasure. The poet is not able at a first sight
to interpret the act, it is only afterwards, that thoughts are understood and described,
nonetheless he canunderstand this experience, thanks to "the inward eye", which represents
feelings of imagination, it is a metaphor, a special way to see things; the poet is able to
interpret the secret language of nature and technical poetry made up of emotions.

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.
The memory of the daffodils was etched in the author's mind and soul to be cherished
forever, when he was feeling lonely, dull or depressed, he thought of the flowers and cheered
up. Then his loneliness and sorrow seemed to vanish; and he desire to dance with the
daffodils. “And then my heart with pleasure fills / And dances with the daffodils.”
The full impact of the daffodils' beauty did not strike him at the moment of seeing
them, when he started blankly at them but much later when he sat alone, sad and lonely and
remember them. “For off, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood / They flash
upon that inward eye”. We can point out that his state was changing in a slight way. He was
not alone any longer, yet he probably thought that he would be stronger if he made a contrast
between a lonely traveler and happy daffodils. This simple but effective way seems to take
hold on us, and then each time we read this poem, we can see the harmonious beauty of the
poet and the long belt of the golden daffodils and enjoy the brightness.
The poet presents vocabulary associated to loneliness: “lonely, solitude ” opposition
between nature and society, vocabulary associated with light: “ sprightly, stars, golden, shine,
twinkle, flash, sparkling ‘’. Movement is linked to: “ wandered, floats, fluttering ‘’; moreover
we have images of earth: “vales and hills’’; images of air: “ clouds, breeze’’; images of
water: “ lake, waves’’. Moreover, there is a choice of tense in the poem in the last stanza, the
poet returns to the reality, the present records the memories, it is a process of creative
imagination, an outstanding experience. All of these also reveal the feeling of the poem. The
lonely feeling of the poet has been changed by his senses of the liveliness, the glee, and the
friendliness with the daffodils to the happy feeling when thinking of daffodils.
In conclusion, "Daffodils' essentially talks about nature, and its beauty. Wordsworth

being a nature poet has used beautiful symbolism, such as 'continous as the stars that shine'
and 'a host, of golden daffodils'. The readers can almost see the scene themselves, which the
poet had experienced during a walk. The poet is in a happy mood, and seeing the beautiful
scene uplifts his spirits. He remembers them for a long tiem afterwards in his 'inward eye'.