William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’

1. What is characteristic of this kind of literature? Mention a few things that are typical of this kind of poetry.
Nature, Personal feelings, common subjects, common people and Simple Language

2. The poem was written by William Wordsworth.
Give some information about his life. (about 10 lines)
Wordsworth was born in 1770. He lived for eighty years, produced some of English poetry’s greatest works and influenced future generations of poets. Most of his life was spent in the Lake District. He was born in Cockermouth (a town in the northern Lakes); educated at Hawkshead Grammar school; and spent much of his adult life in Grasmere and Rydal, right in the heart of the Lake District.
Wordsworth died at Rydal Mount in 1850, and is buried, with his family, in Grasmere churchyard. During his life he was witness to great social, political and artistic change and his experiences and attitudes are reflected not only in his poetry, but also in letters and prose works.


4. Mention at least three contemporary poets. (Contemporary = van diezelfde tijd)
Robert Burn, Lord Byron, Shelley & Keats

5. Write down in your own words what the poem is about. (About three lines)
About the daffodils he had seen on one of his trips by Ullswater, on a stormy day with Dorothy, his sister. In this poem he describes his feelings for the daffodils, he saw on that stormy day and how the daffodils eventually had inspired him to write another poem.

6. What does the word “crowd” refer to? (Line 3)
A 'crowd' of daffodils

7. In the 2nd stanza he compares the flowers to the…………………..
To the stars on the Milky Way

8. The poet also compares the flowers to the waves of the lake. Which does he prefer to look at? In which line(s) can you find this information?
To the waves of the lake, you can see in line 13
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

9. Why is the poem called I wandered lonely as a cloud? Can you think of a better or more appropriate name?
This poem didn’t have a real name so they called this poem: I wandered lonely as a cloud because of its first line. A more appropriate name could be: daffodils

10. Write down what you like and/or don’t like about this poem? (about 3 lines)
I like this poem because it rhymes well, I really don’t like poem with lines that don’t rhyme. It’s beautiful how William Wordsworth is comparing the daffodils to different things and how he describes them with love and happiness.

11. After Wordsworth’s poem we also talked about a short poem which is a reaction to the serious poem about the flowers. Copy this poem and give as much information as you can about this short poem.
There once was a poet named Will
Who tramped his way over a hill
And was speechless for hours
Over some stupid flowers
This was years before TV, but still
Will stands for William Wordsworth. While he walked over a hill, by Ullswater, he saw the daffodils that made him speechless for hours. The writer of this poem had his own opinion about the poem of William; he declares that Williams poem is about nonsense. As you can see this poem is written after the invention of the television.