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- William Wordsworth was born in 1770 in the English Lake District, which became his main source of inspiration. He excelled at describing the relationship between man and nature in his poetry. His most famous poem, "Daffodils", describes seeing a field of daffodils during a walk that filled him with joy and connection to nature. The poem uses personification to depict the dancing flowers and explores the lasting impact of this experience on the poet's mood. Wordsworth believed that nature comforts man and teaches moral lessons, and that man and nature are inseparable parts of a whole.

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110 views3 pages

Text Analysis

- William Wordsworth was born in 1770 in the English Lake District, which became his main source of inspiration. He excelled at describing the relationship between man and nature in his poetry. His most famous poem, "Daffodils", describes seeing a field of daffodils during a walk that filled him with joy and connection to nature. The poem uses personification to depict the dancing flowers and explores the lasting impact of this experience on the poet's mood. Wordsworth believed that nature comforts man and teaches moral lessons, and that man and nature are inseparable parts of a whole.

Uploaded by

Sara Daniel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850)

William Wordsworth was born in the English Lake District in 1770, where he spent most of his
life. This place became his main source of inspiration. He excelled in vivid descriptions of nature
and the joy derived from the beauties of nature. In his poetry he tells about the relationship
between man and nature. He thinks that man and nature are inseparable: each is a part of the
same whole. Man exists not outside the natural world but as an active participant in it. NATURE
COMFORTS MAN IN SORROW, IT IS A SOURCE OF PLEASURE AND JOY, IT TEACHES MAN TO LOVE
AND TO ACT IN A MORAL WAY, IT IS THE SEAT OF THE SPIRIT OF THE UNIVERSE.
He established his reputation as a poet of great lyricism with his "Poems in Two Volumes"
published in 1807; these included his famous "Daffodils" and "Ode”. His friendship with Coleridge
became very important for the development of English Romanticism. In 1843 he was appointed
Poet Laureate: he was considered the most important English poet. He died in 1850.

DAFFODILS
The poem “Daffodils” is a clear example of Romantic poetry for its naturalistic theme. The poet,
during a walk with his sister in the Lake District, saw a great quantity of daffodils which made him
feel happy and in contact with nature. The flowers are personified, in fact they are described as a
dancing crowd whose beauty is superior to everything else. This experience was so important to
become a source of joy, even for the poet’s sad. Nature was for Wordsworth a protection and the
clear manifestation of God.

ANALYSIS:
The key of the poem is joy, as we can see from the many words which express pleasure
and delight: in fact the daffodils are golden, waving in a sprightly dance and outdoing the
waves in glee: they provide a jocund company and the sight of them fills the poet’s heart
with pleasure.

The flowers are set in a natural environment made up of land, air and water. The words
related to the three elements are: for land: vales, hills, tree. For air: cloud, breeze, stars,
milky way. For water: lake, bay, waves.

The daffodils, too, are not static like in a painting, but alive with motion. They are in fact
fluttering and dancing in the breeze, and tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Describing the daffodils the poet mentions only one colour: golden; but the whole poem
implicitly suggests a wealth of colours: white = clouds; green = hills, vales, trees; blue =
lake; silver = star; silver-white = milky way.

The poem presents a perfect structure. It is divided into four stanzas which correspond to
the various moods of the poet.

Stanza 1 Setting and “shock” at the scene


Stanza 2 Description of the flowers
Stanza 3 Relationship between the flowers and the poet, the emotions of the poet (at the
moment of the vision)
Stanza 4 Emotion recollected in tranquility, consequences of the experience
DAFFODILS GIUNCHIGLIE

I wandered lonely as a cloud Vagabondavo da solo come una nuvola


That floats on high o'er vales and hills, che fluttua in alto sopra le valli e le colline
When all at once I saw a crowd, quando improvvisamente vidi una folla,
A host, of golden daffodils; una schiera di giunchiglie dorate,
vicino al lago, al di sotto degli alberi,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
ondeggianti e danzanti nella brezza.
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine Continue come le stelle che risplendono e
And twinkle on the milky way, scintillano nella via lattea,
They stretched in never-ending line si estendevano in una linea senza fine
Along the margin of a bay: lungo il margine della baia:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, ne ho viste 10.000 con un’occhiata,
che scuotevano le loro teste in un’allegra danza.
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Le onde accanto a loro danzavano; ma esse


The waves beside them danced; but they
superavano le onde spumeggianti in gaiezza.
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: Un poeta non poteva che essere felice
A poet could not but be gay, in una tale compagnia giocosa.
In such a jocund company: Io fissavo e fissavo ma pensavo poco a quale
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought ricchezza lo spettacolo mi aveva dato:
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie perché spesso, quando sono sdraiato sul mio
In vacant or in pensive mood, divano in uno stato d’animo ozioso e pensieroso,
They flash upon that inward eye esse appaiono (improvvisamente) in quell’occhio
Which is the bliss of solitude; interiore che è la beatitudine della solitudine,
And then my heart with pleasure fills, ………e allora il mio cuore si riempie di piacere

And dances with the daffodils. e danza con le giunchiglie.

Wordsworth in this poem uses:

Similes: lonely as a cloud; continuous as stars.

Personification: crowd, host, (the daffodils) fluttering and dancing (line 6), (the daffodils)
tossing their heads (line12) ;( the waves) dance (line 13) company (line 16), (my heart)
dances (line 24).
ABOUT WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AND DAFFODILS

-Who was William Wordsworth? He was the most important English


Romantic Poet.
-Where and when was he born? He was born in the English Lake District, in
England, in 1770.
-Why was this area very important for the poet? Because this place
surrounded by nature became his main source of inspiration
-What is the content of his poetry? He tells about the relationship between
man and nature.
-What does the poet think? He thinks that man and nature are inseparable,
man is an active participant in nature. Nature comforts man in sorrow, it is a
source of pleasure and joy. It teaches man to love and to act in a moral way, it
is the seat of the spirit of the universe.
-What is his most famous poem? It’s “Daffodils”.
-What is the content of the poem? The poet, during a walk in the Lake
District, saw a great quantity of daffodils which made him feel happy and in
contact with nature.
-So, which is the key of the poem? It’s the joy derived by the beauty of
nature. There are many words expressing pleasure and delight, for example:
sprightly dance, a jocund company, with pleasure.
-How is divided the poem? It’s divided in four stanzas which correspond to
the various moods of the poet.
-Which is the content of each stanza? In the first stanza the poet is shocked
by the scene; in the second stanza there is the description of the flowers; the
third stanza is about the relationship between the flowers and the poet and it
expresses the emotions of the poet at the moment of the vision; in the fourth
stanza the emotion is recollected in tranquility and peace.
-What does the poet use in this poem?
- He uses personification, the daffodils are personified, they are described as
a dancing crowd, they are fluttering and dancing in the breeze, and tossing
their heads in sprightly dance.
- Describing the daffodils he uses one colour, golden, but the whole poem
suggests a wealth of colours: white = clouds; green = hills, vales, trees; blue =
lake; silver = star; silver-white = milky way.
- He uses words related to the three elements: land (vales, hills, tree), air
(cloud, breeze, stars, milky way) and water (lake, bay, waves).
- He also uses similes such as lonely as a cloud; continuous as stars.

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