#ClassicPoetry – Featuring #WilliamWordsworth

/ Marcia Meara


Today, I’m sharing a poem I dearly loved when I was in Junior High, and I find it still enchants me as much as it did way back then. Hope you’ll enjoy it!

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
William Wordsworth – 1770-1850

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.

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.

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 shew 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

William Wordsworth was one of the founders of English Romanticism and one of  its most central figures and important intellects. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, a poet concerned with the human relationship to nature and a fierce advocate of using the vocabulary and speech patterns of common people in poetry. The son of John and Ann Cookson Wordsworth, William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, located in the Lake District of England: an area that would become closely associated with Wordsworth for over two centuries after his death. He began writing poetry as a young boy in grammar school, and before graduating from college he went on a walking tour of Europe, which deepened his love for nature and his sympathy for the common man: both major themes in his poetry. Wordsworth is best known for Lyrical Ballads, co-written with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and The Prelude, a Romantic epic poem chronicling the “growth of a poet’s mind.”

And there you have today’s Classic Poetry offering.
I hope you enjoyed it!

46 thoughts on “#ClassicPoetry – Featuring #WilliamWordsworth”

  2. When I first came across this one as a child, I didn’t really appreciate it. Coming back to it in my early teens, it seemed simplistic. It’s only later, when I appreciated the final verse, that I could see the power and the beauty in it. I’m really enjoying these selections, Marcia. ❤

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    • Now and then, it’s fun to reread our favorite poems or books, and see how well they’ve stood the test of time. (Or whether we still love them just as much.) I’m glad you enjoyed visiting with Wordsworth this morning, Jeanne, and thanks so much for stopping by to let me know. Have a great week ahead! 😀 ❤

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    • No need to “mature” unless you really want to, Nancy, but finding new things to ENJOY is always great! I’m so glad you are taking a look at these classic poetry posts and hope you are finding ones you like as we go. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking time to say hello, and HAPPY (Poetry) READING! 😊❤️😊

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    • Oooh, that’s cool, Vera! I’m so glad you enjoy Wordsworth, and you can bet I’ll be sharing more from him over time, in the hopes that some who haven’t yet read him will discover how lovely his work is.

      Thanks for stopping by today and sharing your thoughts, and here’s to a great week ahead! 😀 ❤

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    • I’m so glad you were still moved by this one, Denise. It certainly stands the test of time well, doesn’t it? Thanks so much for stopping by today to to let me know your thoughts, and here’s to a great rest of the week. 😀 ❤

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    • So glad you enjoyed it, Mae. It’s been a favorite of mine for about 70 years now, and I love to revisit it from time to time.

      Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to say hello! Have a SUPER week ahead! 😀 ❤

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    • Glad you enjoyed it, Yvette! I’m so happy to have introduced it to you, and hope you’ll find many more classic poems to enjoy as this series goes along. Thanks for stopping by, and here’s hoping you have a wonderful rest of the week! 😀 ❤

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  11. Oh, an absolute favourite, Marcia. Not only beautiful words, it resonates with me because not only do I love daffodils, I spent all my childhood holidays in England’s Lake District: ‘Wordsworth Country’. I can virtually smell the clean mountain air and hear the lapping of the waters on the shore of Grasmere.

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    • Oh, that sounds like a lovely place to have spent your childhood, Jackie! And I’m so glad this one is a favorite of yours. Even though I’ve never been to that part of the world, I dearly love this beautiful poem. It speaks to my soul!

      Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and memories! And have a great Tewe’s Day. Happy travels! 😀 ❤

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  12. We spent a week at Easter in the Lake District and the daffodils were out, not quite as many as Wordsworth spotted, but I took a few photos of daffodils waving by Lake Windermere. He would not have seen so many tourists, but the whole area is still wonderful, completely different from southern England.

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    • And completely different from Florida, too, I’m sure! 😁Wish I could visit one day, but I suspect that ship has sailed. In the meantime, reading this and other Wordsworth poems puts me there in my imagination, at least.

      Thanks so much for stopping by today, Janet, and sharing your experience with us. Have a great rest of the day and week! 😀 ❤

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  13. I LOVE that I’m finding so much beautiful poetry today as I catch up on my blog reading. Marcia, thank you for sharing Wordsworth with us. He had such a talent with words. ❤

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    • I’m glad you are enjoying lots of poetry today, Mar, and especially glad that you stopped by The Write Stuff to check out my latest Classic Poetry post. I’m having fun with these, remember all the wonderful poetry I read many years ago in school. Wordsworth was wonderful, and this poem is a big favorite of mine.

      Thanks for stopping by today and taking a moment to share your thoughts. Have a great rest of the week! 😀 ❤

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    • I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Selma, and hope you’ll also enjoy following along when I share a few more now and then. I do love poetry, and have a special place in my heart for the Classic poetry from “the days of yore.”

      My pleasure to share when I can, and thank you for the blessing. I’m pretty much house-bound in the air conditioning for now, and looking forward to cooler weather soon, but inside or out, every day is a blessing. (Especially at my age.) Speaking of days, I hope today is a great one for you! Thanks for stopping by! 😀 ❤

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      • Days of yore. I’m drawn to those immensely. Thanks. I’ll be following along. I’m a spirit turtle. But you know the story. We get there in the end.
        Stay in the shade please. The heat is tremendous. We are dry and peeling here in Japan. Longing for rain. But we finding the rainbows nonetheless. And hope the cool days arrive swiftly.
        Take care, Marcia. I wish you miracles. Lots.

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        • Glad you’ll be following along, Selma. As for the shade, don’t worry. It’s far too hot outside even in the shade. I really won’t be going out there until September, when it will hopefully start to cool off, especially now that my cardiologist has warned me to stay OUT of the heat. (I was hiding from it already, but now it’s official. 😀 )

          Miracles are good. I wish them for you, as well! 😀 ❤

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    • Glad you think so, Debra. I’ve always thought it was beautiful, too. Hope you’ll enjoy this series over the weeks ahead. It won’t necessarily be every other week like most of my features are, but I do plan on continuing to share some of the poetry I loved so much from my school days.

      Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day! 😀 ❤

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    • Yep, and to make US see and feel it just as he did, too. A real gift, for sure!

      Glad you enjoyed this one, Carol, and thanks so much for stopping by to share your thoughts. Have a great day! 😀 ❤

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