I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud William Wordsworth

William WordsworthWas married to Fanny Graham

Had four kids: Mary Louisa, William, Reginald, and Gordon.

He was one of the greatest romantic poets in the 19 – century England.

Studied at Cambridge University

Date of Birth: April 7, 1770

Birth-place: Cocker mouth, Cumber, England

Death Date: April 23, 1850

Death-place: Rydal mount, Westmoreland

Genre And Form

Genre

A lyric poem presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story or presenting a witty observation.

Form

It consists of four six-line stanzas, in iambic tetrameter and an ABABCC rhyme scheme.

Alliteration: lonely as a cloud (line 1). Simile: Comparison (using as) of the speaker's solitariness to that of a cloud (line 1). Personification: Comparison of the cloud to a lonely human. (line 1)

Questions: (6, 7, & 8)Questions: (6, 7, & 8)How does the language of the poem contribute to its meaning?

People don’t manage to see the world through things that we don’t actually pay attention to. Seeing the same thing, but in a whole different way. Being able to view a different meaning for the same point of view.

How is the poem organized?

The poem is organized with an imaginative form, the speaker visions himself as an object and gives it life by using personification.

Do patterns of rhyme and rhythm contribute to meaning and effect of the poem?

Yes, the poem contains four stanzas of six lines each. In each stanza, the first line rhymes with the third and the second with the fourth.

Questions: (3, 5, & 9)What is the dramatic context of the poem?

The dramatic context of the poem is that first the speaker is a cloud floating and happens to see some daffodils and they stretch all along the shore. Because there are so many of them, they remind the speaker of the Milky Way. The speaker humanizes the daffodils when he says they are engaging in a dance.

What motivates the speaker to speak now, in the tone he/she uses?

The speaker began to wonder of “what if”, and developed a tone with rhythm that understands the poem.

What theme does the poem contain?

The theme that the poem contains is that people sometimes fail to appreciate nature’s wonders as they go about their daily routines. Basically it means that people go through their daily life without noticing the beauty that nature offers us.

Questions (1, 2, & 4)Questions (1, 2, & 4)Who is talking?

The poet is the speaker of the poem.

To whom is the speaker talking?

The speaker speaks out to himself. For he wonders on his own and visions himself as a lonely cloud and gives it a short life story.

What happens during the poem?

As he imagines himself as a cloud, he sees the world below him as he soars along with the wind.

I am the wind

Soaring through the trees

Seeing all the history

Hearing the music

Capturing the moments of every second for I have been in existence since

time itself began

All the scenery that I have endured come ‘n’ go as

I please I feel cold

Sometimes hot

Other times I refresh and warm up the senses I

cannot be caught

I cannot be tamed

What was your initial response to the poem?

Our response was that it had to deal with the beauty of nature.

How does your new poem improve the message of the original?

This poem contributes to the wind. The main thing that makes the clouds move.

Question 10