A host of golden daffodils
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
Outdid 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
Okay, so these daffodils are growing alongside a village lane rather than on the romantic shore of Ullswater, and I doubt there are ten thousand of them, but they look none the less cheerful for that. Hooray for spring flowers.
9 comments:
They're out here as well. Osterglocken we call them, Easter Bells; they're my favourite spring flower.
They're so pretty, no matter where you find them. They add such a touch of charm.
Oooh, so pretty!
Thanks, all. Easter Bells, that's a good name for daffodils!
Had to memorize that poem in school.
I have a variety called "poet's narcissus."
Thanks for the uplift - poem and picture! It snowed here yesterday. I'm a bit tired of winter. Although they promise us warm temps today. So the snow will melt and we'll have... mud! My tulips don't stand a chance...
Bernita - I know parts of it by heart, but I tend to get the verses mixed up. Still like it, though.
Constance - your tulips may be used to it by now and may not mind at all.
Hi Carla, just catching up on some blog reading and lo and behold a Wordsworth poem about daffodils: do see my blog of 10 March about daffodils....and Wordsworth!
'Great minds' is an idea I like but the fact is that everyone who sees daffodils en masse probably feels the same sense of pleasure.
Lucy
www.lucyannwrites.blogspot.com
Lucy - yes, there's something irrepressibly cheerful about a large group of daffodils, as if some sunshine had come down to earth
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