I wander'd 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.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
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:
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.
William Wordsworth. 1770–1850
We learned the first verse of Wordsworth's poem off by heart when I was in Junior school. What no-one ever remembers is that a large proportion of his words originated with his sister, Dorothy. She was the one who saw the daffodils on one of her daily walks and noted them in her diary. It was then her custom to read her diary entries aloud to Wordsworth and his wife. He was then inspired to write his poem, with little credit going to the original author. If you ever get the opportunity to read Dorothy Wordsworth's diary, it's fascinating.
ReplyDeleteSarah ~ thank you for broadening the perspective on Wordsworth and this poem. I'd love to read Dorothy's diary. When I Goggled her, I found this except from her diary at Wikkipedia:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Wordsworth