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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

University of Social Sciences and Humanities

British Literature Group 1

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01 • Lâm Đức Chí

02 • Huỳnh Khánh Vi

03 • Liêu Thị Ngọc Hiếu

04 • Hồ Thị Khen

05 • Dương Phương Thảo

Member list

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1. The writer’s biography ······························································· 4

2. The summary of the poem ···························································· 5

3. Setting ···················································································· 5

4. Characters ··············································································· 5

5. Analysis of a poem ····································································· 6

5.1. Stanza 1 ········································································· 8

5.2. Stanza 2 ········································································ 11

5.3. Stanza 3 ········································································ 14

5.4. Stanza 4 ········································································ 16

6. Theme of the poem ···································································· 19

CONTENTS

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William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850)

1. The writer’s Biography

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 at Cocker mouth in Cumbria, England. He was

the second of five children in his family.

Wordsworth lost his mother when he was eight. His father was a lawyer and died five years later,

when he was 13. Both Wordsworth's parents died before he was 15.

In 1787 he went on to study at St. John's College, Cambridge. Then He received his BA degree

in 1791.

In 1802, Wordsworth married a childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson, and they had five children

together.

The next few years were personally difficult for Wordsworth. Two of his children—Catherine

and John—died.

In 1843, Wordsworth became England's poet laureate, a position he held for the rest of his life.

At the age of 80, he died on April 23, 1850, at his home in Rydal Mount, Westmorland, England

and he was buried in Grasmere churchyard.

His great autobiographical poem, 'The Prelude', which he had worked on since 1798, was

published after his death by his wife.

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2. The summary of the poem

The poem talks about when the author was walking around through the hills and valleys, but he

felt lonely. Suddenly, as he passes a lake, he saw a large number of golden daffodils waving in

the breeze. They look like a continuous line of stars shining in the Milky Way. The speaker’s

loneliness was replaced by joy. Later, whenever he is sad, he just thinks of the daffodils, and his

heart will fill with pleasure and he would to dance along with the flowers.

3. Setting

William Wordsworth composed "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" while he and his sister,

Dorothy, were walking near a lake at Grasmere, Cumbria County, England, and came upon a

shore lined with daffodils.

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud‖ is a lyric poem focusing on the poet's response to the beauty of

nature. The earlier version wrote in 1804, two years after seeing the lakeside daffodils that

inspired the poem. It was published in Poems in Two Volumes in 1807. The final version was

published in Collected Poems in 1815.

4. Characters

In "I wandered lonely as a Cloud," the daffodils are like little yellow people who keep the

speaker company when he is feeling lonely. The happiness of the daffodils can always cheer him

up, and he can tell that they are happy because they dance. Some variation of the word "dance"

occurs in each of the four stanzas. Also, the speaker is taken aback by how many daffodils there

are. We often think of daffodils as a flower that people plant in their gardens in the springtime,

so it would be surprising to come upon thousands of them by an isolated lake.

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5. Analysis of a poem

Daffodils- I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

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Tôi lang thang như áng mây đơn dộc

Trôi bồng bềnh trên thung lũng núi đồi,

Tôi chợt thấy một rừng hoa sinh động,

Rừng thủy tiên rực vàng khoe sắc;

Bên bờ hồ và dưới những tán cây,

Đang nhảy múa, vỗ về cùng làn gió.

Cứ tiếp nối như ngàn sao tỏa sáng,

Lấp lánh trôi trên dãy ngân hà,

Trải dài theo đường chân trời bất tận,

Quanh mặt hồ bên bờ nước bao la;

Tôi đã thấy rừng hoa vàng nở rộ

Uốn mình theo vũ điệu thanh xuân.

Sóng nhấp nhô theo hoa chung nhịp bước

Nhưng thủy tiên vẫn rực rỡ bội phần,

Một bài thơ muôn đời không tả xiết

Sự hòa huyện tuyệt sắc của thiên nhiên,

Tôi ngẩn ngơ ngắm nhìn rồi ngẩm nghĩ

Còn gì bằng được đến với ngàn hoa.

Rồi hằng đêm nơi trường kỷ tôi nằm

Nghe tâm thức trầm tư và trống rỗng,

Bỗng vụt sáng hàng thủy tiên trong mắt

Xóa cô đơn và hạnh phúc vô bờ,

Và tim tôi lại dâng tràn cảm xúc

Bước chân hoà theo điệu múa thuỷ tiên.

(Bản dịch sưu tầm – Hoa Thủy Tiên)

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5.1 Stanza 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.

The rhyme:

The rhyme scheme is also simple: ABABCC. The last two lines of each stanza rhyme like the

end of a Shakespeare sonnet, so each stanza feels independent and self-sufficient. This is called a

"rhyming couplet." There aren't even any slant rhymes to trick you. Here's the first stanza with

the rhyme scheme labelled:

I wandered lonely as a cloud (A)

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, (B)

When all at once I saw a crowd, (A)

A host, of golden daffodils; (B)

Beside the lake, beneath the trees, (C)

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. (C)

Line 1-2:

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

that floats on high o'er vales and Hills

Vocabulary

Wander (v): roam around without a purpose

Float: move lightly and gracefully

O'er (prep): over

Vale (n): valley

Golden (adv): having the deep yellow colour of gold

Flutter (v): flap the wings rapidly and lightly

Breeze (n): a light wind

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Technique:

Line1:

Simile ―as‖: The poet assumes that himself as a cloud. The beginning of the

poem makes a simile between the speaker’s wandering and the "lonely" distant

movements of a single cloud.

Personification: ―lonely‖ Clouds can’t be lonely

Line 2:

Archaic words ―o'er‖ and ―vale‖ mean ―over‖ and ―valley‖.

Meaning:

The speaker describes how he walked around and felt as lonely as a cloud. He

doesn’t say, "Walked around," but uses the much more descriptive word

"wandered."

"Wandered" means roaming around without a purpose, like when you explore

something. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But in its metaphorical use,

"wandered" can mean feeling purposeless and directionless in general. As in, you

have questions like, "What’s the meaning of my life?"

The first concept that we want to take a look at is that the cloud is "lonely."

Asking questions about what this means will help us get into the poem.

Are clouds lonely? Well, maybe the ones that float about valleys and hills are

lonely. It's more likely, the speaker is projecting his own loneliness on the clouds.

But that still doesn’t explain the strange image, because clouds usually travel in

groups.

Maybe a cloud is lonely because it is so far above the rest of the world. Its

thoughts are just so "lofty," and maybe the speaker’s thoughts are, too.

Also, the cloud could be lonely because it floats over a natural landscape with no

people in it. Maybe the speaker has thought of hills and valleys because he

happens to be "wandering" through such a landscape.

Line 3-4:

When all at once I saw a crowd

a host, of golden Daffodils

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Technique:

Line3: Metaphor: ―a crown‖ means ―the poet implied the daffodils as a crown of

people‖

Meaning:

Suddenly ("all at once"), the speaker sees a group of daffodil flowers. We tend to

think of daffodils as "yellow," but he uses the more majestic-sounding "golden."

You may have heard the phrase, "heavenly host" in reference to angels or spirits.

We think Wordsworth adds the word "host" in order to suggest this connection.

Also, the colour of the flowers is golden like a halo.

Yes, "host" and "crowd" mean pretty much the same thing. Ah, but that’s where

the connotations come in, those vague associations that attach to certain words. A

"crowd" is associated with groups of people, while "host" is associated with

angels, because people often refer to a "host of angels." Coupled with the

description of their angelic "golden" colour, we seem to be dealing with some

very special daffodils.

Line 5-6:

Beside the Lake, beneath the trees

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Technique:

Personification: ―Fluttering‖ and ―dancing‖. Daffodils cannot actually "dance,"

"Fluttering" suggests flight, which could bring us back to the angels or even birds

or butterflies. "Dancing" is something that usually only humans do. So

Wordsworth is ascribing to them an action that is associated with people.

Meaning:

He sees the daffodils beside a lake and underneath some trees. It’s a breezy day,

and the flowers "flutter" and "dance" on their stems.

Maybe now is a good time to step outside the poem for just a second to note that

Wordsworth lived in a part of England known as the Lake District, which is filled

with lots of hills, valleys and, of course, lakes. We can assume he’s walking in a

fairly remote and wild part of the countryside.

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Summary stanza 1:

While wandering like a cloud, the speaker happens upon daffodils fluttering in a breeze on the

shore of a lake, beneath trees. Daffodils are plants in the lily family with yellow flowers and a

crown shaped like a trumpet.

5.2 Stanza 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

The rhyme:

Continuous as the stars that shine (A)

And twinkle on the Milky Way, (B)

They stretched in never-ending line (A)

Along the margin of a bay: (B)

Ten thousand saw I at a glance, (C)

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. (C)

Vocabulary

Twinkle (v): shine with an unsteady light

The Milky Way: the galaxy

Stretch (v): make something wider or longer

Margin (n): the edge of something

Bay (n): a large area of water that is part of

lake

Glance (n): a quick look

Toss (v): move or lift (something, such as a

part of your body) quickly or suddenly

Sprightly (adj): full of life and energy

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Line7-8:

Continuous as the stars that shine

and twinkle on the Milky Way

Technique:

Line7: simile “as” the poet implied the daffodils as the stars

Lines 7-8: The second stanza begins with a simile comparing the shape and

number of the daffodils to the band of stars that we call the Milky Way galaxy

Meaning:

The emphasis the point that there are a whole lot of daffodils. More daffodils than

he has probably ever seen before. After all, these are flowers that usually grow in

scattered groups in the wild or in people’s well-tended gardens.

The flowers stretch "continuously," without a break, like the stars in the Milky

Way galaxy, each one gleaming like a star.

The comparison to stars provides new evidence that the speaker is trying to make

us think of angels or other heavenly beings.

Line 9-10:

They stretched in never-ending line

along the margin of a bay

Technique:

Line 9: Hyperbole The speaker says that the line of daffodils is "never-ending,"

but we know this can’t be strictly true: all good things come to an end.

Line 10: Stars are associated with angels, so the comparing the flowers to

"twinkling" stars reinforces the connection.

Meaning:

Like the Milky Way galaxy, the flowers are roughly concentrated in a line that

seems to stretch as far as the eye can see ("never-ending"). They flowers line the

shore ("margin") of a bay of the lake, which must be a relatively large lake.

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If you’ve ever seen the Milky Way (or the photo in the link above), you know that

the galaxy appears to be a band that has more stars and a brighter appearance than

the night sky around it. It’s not a perfectly clear line, but more like a fuzzy

approximation of a line. We imagine the same effect with the flowers. It’s not as

if there are no flowers outside the shore of the lake, but most are concentrated on

the shore.

Line 11-12:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Technique:

Inversion: ―saw I at a glance‖, ―Tossing their heads‖

Personification: daffodils can dance and toss as human the personification of the

daffodils becomes more specific. The "heads" of the daffodils are the part of the

flower with the petals. It is larger and heavier than the stem, and so it bobs in a

breeze.

Meaning

The speaker takes in "ten thousand" dancing flowers at once. That’s a lot of

daffodils.

Wow, he’s fast at counting if he knows the number after only a quick glance. But,

of course, the speaker is not actually counting, but just guessing.

The flowers "toss their hands" while dancing to the wind. By "heads" we think he

means the part of the flower with the petals, the weight of which causes the rest of

the flower to bob.

"Sprightly" means happily or merrily. The word derives from "sprite," which

refers to the playful little spirits that people once thought inhabited nature.

"Sprites" are supernatural beings, almost like fairies.

Summary stanza 2:

The daffodils stretch all along the shore. Because there are so many of them, they remind the

speaker of the Milky Way, the galaxy that scientists say contains about one trillion stars,

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including the sun. The speaker humanizes the daffodils when he says they are engaging in a

dance.

5.3 Stanza 3

The waves beside them danced but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee

a poet could not but the gay

in such a jocund company

I gazed and gazed but the little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought

Vocabulary

Line 13-14:

―The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee”:

Technique

The waves beside them danced‖ dancing is an act of man, here's the author of a number

bouts pushed a wave like a dance

Meaning

The waves also dance in the breeze, but the daffodils seem happier than the waves.

We know from Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal (see "In a Nutshell") that the day that

inspired this poem was a stormy one, so the waves on this medium-to-large sized lake

must have been larger than usual. Maybe they were even cresting into whitecaps.

New word Pronunciation Meaning

Out-did (adj) [aʊt-did] Better

Sparkling (adj) ['spɑ:kliη] Twinkle

Glee (n) [gli:] Merry, joyful

Gay (adj) [gei] Merry

Jocund (adj) ['dʒɔkənd] Merry, joyful, gay

Gaze (v) [geiz] To gaze at

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The point is that the entire scene has suddenly been invested with a joyful human-like

presence. Since waves do not bring as much joy as the yellow flowers, the flowers

"out-did" the water with their happiness.

The waves "sparkle," which creates yet another association with the stars. Everything

seems to be gleaming and twinkling and shining and sparkling.

Line 15-16:

“A Poet could not but be gay,

in such a jocund company”

Meaning

The speaker re-enters the poem. (We’ve haven’t seen you since the first line, buddy.)

Except he refers to himself in the first person, by his vocation, "a poet."

Despite his earlier loneliness, the speaker now can’t help but feel happy, or "gay,"

with such a beautiful vision to look at.

Or, as he puts at, with such joyful and carefree ("jocund") "company" to hang out

with. The flowers and waves feel like companions to him. They are all pals. Group

hug!

Line 17-18:

“I gazed--and gazed--but little thought

what wealth the show to me had brought”

Technique

Authors have used repetition (gazed--and gazed) to emphasize the sheer beauty of the natural

colour, which is one beauty makes people just want to immerse themselves in contemplation

Meaning

The repetition of "gaze" tells us that he kept looking at the flowers for a long time. It's

as if the speaker enjoys looking at these daffodils at the time, but doesn’t realize

exactly how great of a gift he has just received with this vision.

Apparently, the speaker doesn't think that he fully appreciated the vision at the time.

This is a bit odd, because he seems to be really enjoying those daffodils.

The word "wealth" expresses a more permanent kind of happiness. It also carries a

hint of money that does not quite fit with the supernatural language that has come

before.

Summary stanza 3

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The third paragraph record the beyond boundaries of poetry - romantic. The enjambments

phenomenon expanded to squeeze section, beyond the boundaries of poetic grammar:

The waves danced beside added; but they / Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: ... Come

here, "company" appears as a continuation, echoes the word "lonely" right first time-

statements reflect permanent loneliness of romantic poets - tri negative crave, always

sympathetic charm to life.

5.4 Stanza 4

For oft when on my couch I lie

in vacant or pensive mood

they flash upon that inward eye

which is the bliss of solitude

and when my heart with pleasure fills

and dances with the daffodils.

Vocabulary

Line 19-20:

“For oft, when on my couch I lie

in vacant or in pensive mood”

Technique

Oft is an archaic word, the author uses this word as if hysterically something deeply, sadly,

nostalgically lingering feeling hard to describe.

New word Pronunciation Meaning

Wealth (adj) [welθ] Rich

Couch (n) [kaut∫] Furniture Sofa

Vacant (adj) ['veikənt] Empty

Pensive (adj) ['pensiv] Thinking deeply

Mood(n) [mu:d] Get up

Inward (adj) ['inwəd] Inside

Bliss (n) [blis] The Happiest

Solitude (n) ['sɔlitju:d] Aloneness

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Meaning

Now the speaker explains why the daffodils were such a great gift to him. He moves

suddenly into the future, back from the lake and the windy day. He’s describing a

habitual action, something he does often.

First, he sets the scene: he often sits on his couch, kind of feeling blah about life, with

no great thoughts and sights. Sometimes his mind is empty and "vacant," like a bored

teenager sitting on the sofa after school and trying to decide what to do. At other

times he feels "pensive," which means he thinks kind-of-sad thoughts. You can’t be

both "vacant" and "pensive" because one means "not thinking," and the other means

"thinking while feeling blue." But he groups the two experiences together because

both are vaguely unpleasant and dissatisfying.

Line 21-22:

“They flash upon that inward eye

which is the bliss of solitude”

Technique

They flash upon that inward eye, 1 scene daffodils in full as soon as it existed in the author's

eyes, as the author is firsthand.

Meaning

So, often when our speaker gets in these downer moods, the image of the daffodils

"flashes" through his mind.

The "inward eye" expresses what Wordsworth felt to be a deeper, truer spiritual

vision. A person cannot share his or her own spiritual vision completely with others,

and so it is a form of "solitude." But its truth and beauty make it "blissful."

Why does the speaker think of daffodils in exactly these moments? Maybe it's

because the contrast between their joy and his unhappiness is so striking.

Nonetheless, the vision is spontaneous, like a crack of lightning.

Line 23-24:

“And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils”

Technique

The heart is the place contains human emotions, author is used the personification which is when

the heart of emotional surge, it also can dance as people.

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Meaning

When the memory of the flowers and the lake flashes into his head, he feels happy

again. It’s almost like the same experience he had while "wandering" through nature

at the beginning of the poem, when the real daffodils pushed the loneliness out of his

head.

The memory of the daffodils is as good as the real thing.

His heart is set to dancing, just like the flowers. He dances along "with" them – they

are his cheerful companions once again.

Summary stanza 4

The last paragraph, daffodils show its natural beauty expression. Flowers show: beauty or

beauty reconciles salvation, manifest on the journey. The deposition in the mind of the poet,

daffodils is only memories. The Oxymoron: "bliss" and "solitude" emphasizes solitude - the

curse that writers and poets bear romantic poet penetrated more than anyone else; they

change humanity gnawing pain.

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6. Theme of the poem

"I wandered lonely as a Cloud" is a poem that just makes you feeling good about life. It says that

even when you are by yourself and lonely and missing your friends, you can use your

imagination to find new things in the world around you. As whenever the poet lies down for

taking a rest, or whenever he is in sad mood, the memory of the daffodils flashes in his mind.

And then the poet’s mind starts dancing along with the daffodils as it gives him a little joy

whenever he needs it, like recharging his batteries. The poem, in this way is not only a

description of natural beauty but also a celebration of the fact that nature is always a source of

inspiration for people.

End

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