Daffodils
Extract I
I wander’d lonely…….in
the breeze.
1.
Who has been referred to as ‘I’ in the
first line of the extract? Where do you think was he wandering?
The
poet, William Wordsworth. The poet was wandering near a lake at Grasmere, in
England.
2.
What does the poet encounter while
wandering? Where does he encounter them?
He
encountered a large number of golden daffodils, besides a lake and beneath the
trees.
3.
Why do you think the poet refers to the
daffodils as golden?
To
symbolise the magical effect it creates in his heart and mind.
4.
Discuss the importance of the following
lines with reference to the poem:
Beside
the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering
and dancing in the breeze.
These
lines personify the beautiful daffodils. The poet sees the daffodils
growing along the margin of a bay, and
they appear to be dancing and fluttering in the breeze. These lines are
important as it was the daffodils’ lively appearance that captivated the poet.
5.
Which figure of speech is used in the
following lines? How many daffodils do you think the poet saw? Give reason for
you answer.
When
al at once I saw a crowd,
A
host, of golden daffodils,
Hyperbole.
The poet saw a huge group of daffodils along the riverside which can be deduced
from the words, ‘crowd’ and ‘host’. Moreover, in a hyperbolic expression, he
said, “Ten thousand saw I at a glance.”
Extract
II
Continuous
as the stars….in sprightly dance.
1. How
are the daffodils compared to the stars?
Continuous as the stars that shine. This
simile is used to describe the daffodils spread continuously like the shining
stars that twinkle in the night sky.
2. What
is the milky way? Why is it referred to in the extract?
Is the galaxy that contains our Solar
System and from the earth it appears as a band of light in the night sky.
It is draw our attention between a crowd
of beautiful daffodils indistinguishable
from each other and a continuous band of twinkling stars in the night sky.
3. What
is meant by the margin of the bay?
The margin means the line where land and
water meet. The daffodils in the poem,
line the shore of the lake.
4. State
how the technique of using exaggeration heightens the poetic effect in the
extract?
Exaggeration is used to emphasise the
large number of daffodils that he saw during his walk along the river. The
exaggeration of daffodils stretched endlessly in a ‘never ending line” along
the margin of a bay is beautiful. The use of such exaggeration thus heightens
the poetic effect.
5. Briefly
describe the musical quality of the extract.
Daffodils is a lyric poem. The word
‘lyric’ is derived from ‘lyre’, and it implies that the poem is meant to be
sung to the accompaniment of the lyre.
The rhyming pattern followed in this
poem is that in each stanza the first line rhymes with the third; the second
with the fourth; and the fifth with sixth. Each stanza ends with a rhyming
couplet.
Extract III
The
waves beside…….show to me had brought.
1. How
did the daffodils outdo the waves?
The water in the lake had ripples looking
like waves dancing. The daffodils tossing and dancing like human beings seemed
to be competing against these waves. According to the poet, the daffodils defeated the waves in glee.
2. What
is meant by jocund company? Which jocund company is the poet referring to? Why
does the poet find it jocund?
It means a happy and gleeful company.
The poet is referring to the jocund company of thousands of daffodils.
The beautiful daffodils dancing before
the poet captivated him. It made him happy
and refreshed. It made him feel one with nature. That is why he
finds their company jocund.
3. Which
wealth referred to by the poet? Explain how the wealth was brought
to the poet?
Wealth refers to the peace and happiness
that the show of daffodils fluttering
and dancing before him brought to him, something he could be
not acknowledge at that very movement.
The wealth was brought to the poet when he encountered the golden daffodils surpassing the beauty of dancing waves.
4. What
is the mood of the poet in the above extract? Which lines tell you so? Why is
he in such a mood?
The poet is in a happy and cheerful
mood. He himself reflects his happiness in the following lines:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company
The feeling of ones with nature that the
poet has experienced on seeing lively
and dancing daffodils is the reason for his happy mood.
5. With
reference to the above extract, state why Wordsworth can be called nature poet.
The poet in the beginning wanders lonely as a cloud but the vast belt of daffodils tossing their heads in
sprightly dance captivates him. The daffodils even outdo the waves and this
golden company makes the poet feel happy and one with nature. Thus, Wordsworth
can be called a nature poet.
Extract IV
For oft, when on my couch……… with
daffodils.
1. What
happens to the poet when the he lies on his couch in a pensive mood?
The image of the golden daffodils flash
before him and change his mood into happy one.
2. What
is the ‘bliss of solitude’ referred to in the extract? How does the bliss of
solitude take place?
The bliss of solitude is referred to the
paradise the poet finds himself in as
soon as the image of golden daffodils flashes before his eyes. His loneliness
is overtaken by the image of daffodils which make him feel as if he were
dancing along with the daffodils.
3. Explain
the transition from poet’s pensive mood to his heart filled with joy.
When he is in a pensive mood, the image of golden daffodils flashes before
him and changes his mood. The poet, who was lonely in the beginning of the
poem, experiences ‘the bliss of solitude’ by the end. He then feels calm and
refreshed. The memory of the daffodils fills his heart with joy and he
feels as if his heart were dancing with
the daffodils.
4. With
reference to the last two lines of the extract, state the influence that nature
can have over an individual’s mind.
Nature becomes positive force for the
poet. When the poet lies on his couch in a contemplative mood, the image of
dancing daffodils flashes before him, he is filled with happiness. Thus, the
very thought of being in the lap of nature uplifts the spirit.
5. Wordsworth
says that poetry is “ the overflow of feelings arising from emotions
recollected in tranquillity.’ In this context, state how the poem shows the
truth of his statement.
Poetry for Wordsworth does not depend
upon rhetorical and literary devices, but is the free expression of the
poet’s thoughts and feelings. When he
was away from noisy and polluted cities, he relied on his memory and reconstructed his experience of his feelings. Thus
collecting his emotions with the help of his memory of encountering daffodils,
he composed this poem.