Daffodils by William Wordsworth (With Question Answers) CHSE Invitation to English I Book

DAFFODILS 

by

William Wordsworth

Introducing the poet

William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850) is one of the major poets of his time. He was honoured as England's Poet Laureate.He defined poetry as ―Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings‖ arising from ―emotions recollected in tranquility‖. He is a poet of nature, and used common words to express his feelings.Warm up This poem incorporates the ideas and aspects essential to romantic poetry. The field of daffodils is evidently the subject of this poem, making nature the most apparent feature throughout. Wordsworth adds a range of natural images such as lakes, trees, stars and even clouds in this poem. Through nature a tranquil mood is instantly created from the very first line,―I wandered lonely as a cloud.‖ The atmosphere of the poem is very peaceful and the use of nature creates a joyful setting. Not until the poet later muses about what he saw does he fully appreciate the cheerful sight of the dancing daffodils.Study the poem and note how Wordsworth glorifies the beauty of Nature and the bliss of solitude

The Poem:

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 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.

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Questions and Answers

1. When did the poet see the daffodils?

Ans: The poet was wandering alone like a cloud that floated high over valleys and hills. It was then that he saw the daffodils by the side of a lake.

2. Where did the poet see the daffodils?

Ans: The poet while wandering alone, saw a host of golden daffodils beside a lake, beneath the trees. 

3. Fill in the blanks to describe the idea of stanza 1: The poet was - - - in the English Country side. He saw thousands of - - fluttering and dancing beneath - - and beside - - . The daffodils appeared to be - - in the strong breeze .

Ans: The poet was wandering in the English Country side. He saw thousands of daffodils fluttering and dancing beneath the trees and beside the lake. The daffodils appeared to be dancing in the strong breeze

4. What does the poet compare the daffodils with?

Ans: The poet compares the daffodils to the stars twinkling in the sky, like in the milky way. 

5. What resemblance does he find between the stars and the daffodils?

Ans: The poet makes a comparison between the stars and daffodils. The daffodils are countless in number and their golden petals shine with the breeze. Similarly the stars in the sky are countless and they twinkle brightly and emit their shine in the sky. 

6. What does the poet say about the number of flowers?

Ans: When the poet saw the daffodils at a glance, he could see that they were ten thousand in number. By this he meant, that the flowers were uncountable. 

7. Where were the flowers?

Ans: The flowers were on the bank of a lake and beneath the trees. 

8. Which of the two danced more sprightly - the waves or the daffodils?

Ans: Both the waves and the daffodils danced cheerfully, but the daffodils were more jolly than the waves. They were energetic and exuberant. 

9. How does the poet feel while looking at the daffodils?

Ans: The poet was happy and cheerful in the company of the daffodils. He continued to gaze at them and observe their merriment. 

10. What happens to the poet when he lies on his couch?

Ans: When the poet lied on his couch in  a vacant or thoughtful mood, the sight of the daffodils came alive to his mind. The joy he experienced on observing the flowers, got etched in his memory forever. he recalled those memories and felt the same joy again. 

11. Mention the two moods of the poet.

Ans: The first mood of the poet was vacant or pensive mood. The second mood was the blissful one, when he recalled the sight of the blooming daffodils while lying on his couch. 

12. What does the poet feel when he remembers the sight of the daffodils?

Ans: When the poet remembers the sight of the daffodils, his heart becomes ecstatic and his mind lightens up. 

13. When does the poet write the poem - beside or off the lake?

Ans: The poem was written of the lake. The poet experienced the company of the daffodils while wandering alone. He recalled the sight later on and wrote the poem. 

14. Do you find a rhyme scheme in the poem? The rhyming scheme of the first stanza is a b a b (a - 'cloud' and 'crowd'; b - 'hills' and 'daffodils') , ending with a rhyming couplet cc (c - 'trees' and 'breeze'). Is the rhyme scheme similar in other three stanzas or do you find any variation?

Ans: The rhyme scheme of the first two stanzas are the same - ababcc

Rhyme scheme of the 3rd stanza is - abacdd and 4th stanza is same as the first and second one: ababcc. 

15. How many times is the word \"dance\" repeated in this poem? In which line does it show the happiness and liveliness of the flowers?

Ans: The word dance has been repeated four times in the poem. It has been used once in each stanza. In the line 12, it shows the happiness amd liveliness of flowers. 

16. In which line does it create a sense of harmonious relationship between the daffodils and the waves?

Ans: In line 13 and 14, the word 'dance' created a sense of harmonious relationship between the daffodils and the waves. 

17. In which line does this harmonious relationship include the poet himself?

Ans: In line 17, the poet got included in the harmonious relationship of the waves and daffodils when he felt cheerful in their company. 

18. What figures of speech do you find in the poem?

Ans: In this poem we find figures of speech like similes and metaphors. 

19. 'Simile' is a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things by using like‘, as‘, etc. For example, in 'I wandered lonely as a cloud', as the loneliness of the poet resembles the loneliness of the cloud that is floating high in the sky, the figure of speech used is a simile. What other example of a simile do you find in the poem?

Ans: The other examples of simile is found in the second stanza, "Continuous as the stars that shine", wherein the poet compared the daffodils with the stars. 

20. 'Metaphor' is a figure of speech that makes an implicit comparison between two unlike things. In 'What wealth the show to me had brought', the poet imagines the happiness brought to him by the beautiful scene of the flowers as "wealth". Does he use a metaphor here?

Ans: Yes the poet has used metaphor here. In the line "What wealth the show had brought", the poet imagines the happiness brought to him by the beautiful scene of the flowers as 'wealth'.  The words don't have any literal meaning here.

 

21. "Ten thousand saw I at a glance" - is it an exaggeration? Will you call it a 'hyperbole"?

Ans: Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement made for effect. Here, the poet is emphasizing on the huge number of daffodils. Yes, It is a hyperbole. 

22. What figure of speech does the poet use in "They stretched in never-ending line."?

Ans: The figure of speech used here is hyperbole.