Janett Omeally
Dr. Xiao Wang
ENC1101
February 25, 2013
Diction, Imagery, and personification in the poem “I wondered lonely as cloud”
This is a beautiful but simple poem about the beauty of nature and how inspiring it can be. The speaker says that, wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils beside a lake. The dancing, fluttering flowers stretched endlessly along the shore, and though the waves of the lake danced beside the flowers, the daffodils outdid the water in glee. The speaker says that a poet could not help but be happy in such a joyful company of flowers. He says that he stared and stared, but did not realize what wealth the scene would bring him. For now, whenever he feels “vacant” or “pensive,” the memory flashes upon “that inward eye / that is the bliss of solitude,” and his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the daffodils.”Wordsworth use of vivid imagery, concise diction and detailed personification is used to paint a picture perfect scene. The poem is rich with imagery, and in the first stanza, Wordsworth describes the scene as he wanders “as lonely as a cloud.” He compares himself to a “Solitary cloud” that is floating over the valleys and the hills and then he sees a “crowd” of golden daffodils which are under the trees and beside a lake and are “Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” It is evident that the poet is admiring the beauty around him and capturing a beautiful snatched moment in time that nature has presented to him. According to Pardede, Wordsworth uses images very extensively in order to let the reader involve in the experiences he is communicating. For instance, how he is wandering and floating lonely as a cloud “o’er vales and hills” is important they enable the reader to visualize the surroundings being described in the poem. This so-call poetic euphoria that the poet has