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.
About this poem:
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” was written sometime between 1804 and 1807 by William Wordsworth.
It was first published in the collection “Poems in Two Volumes” in 1807 with a revised version
of the collection published in 1815.
Though this poem made very little impact upon publication,
it is now considered to be Wordsworth’s most famous poem.
Read more about this poem in an article written by the British Library.