I Wandered Lonely

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

The Romantic Period

• Historical context
• A poem about daffodils?

What are the main themes
of Romantic literature?

Historical context

Late 18th / early 19th century: great changes!

• Society: industrial cities; poverty among workers
  
• Nature: large-scale environmental pollution
  
• Great wealth vs great poverty
  

Romantic period

Very different from Age of Reason!

Romantic > "romance" > story of adventure + imagination

Main themes

• the beauty and value of nature 
  
• idealization of the countryside and country people 
  
• the (idealized) past 
  
• distant and exotic cultures 
  
• children (innocent, not yet corrupted by the world) 
  
• the supernatural
  

William Wordsworth

1770 - 1850 

The Lake District

Lyrical Ballads

• Tried to bring poetry withing reach of ordinary people
  
• Used normal, everyday language
  
• Subjects were simple, uneducated country folk
  

I Wandered Lonely ... 1

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. 

I Wandered Lonely ... 2

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.

I Wandered Lonely ... 3

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: 

I Wandered Lonely ... 4

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.

Assigment

- Go to reader p. 47

- Answer the questions

How could you also interpret the word 'wandered'?

1. Walking around with a pensive mind.
2. Wondering about the meaning of nature.
3. Wondering about the meaning of one's life.
4. Walking through the valley of death.

What colour are the daffodils?

1. yellow
2. grey
3. blue
4. red

Normally only animals flutter and humans dance so what is happening with the flowers?

1. The wind is blowing and it looks as that makes the flowers dance.
2. The flowers are alive.
3. There are butteflies as well.
4. The flowers change into butterflies.

Why does the poet refer to stars and the milky way?

1. Because the sun has set and it is dark now.
2. To emphasize the fact that there are so many flowers.
3. To compare the flowers to the stars at night.
4. To stress the dancing of the flowers.

What feeling do the daffodils express?

1. anxiety
2. happiness
3. sadness
4. melancholy

What wealth did the sight of the daffodils bring to the poet?

What is the difference between 'vacant' and 'pensive'?

Explain the last 4 lines.