William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” are intriguingly different poems that both use symbolism, similes, imagery, and metaphors as ways of expressing emotions and attitudes towards life. Although the two pieces of literature portray vastly different feelings, Wordsworth and Arnold both use nature to elucidate the speaker’s outlook. Interestingly enough, Matthew Arnold was a big fan of William Wordsworth’s work, which is most likely why his poetry is so similar to Wordsworth's. Even though Wordsworth is a poet from the Romantic Period and Arnold one from the Victorian, the two share a simplistic style of writing as well as a unique ability to capture the reader’s imagination through deep naturalistic comparisons.
The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” enables the reader to take part in a form of spiritual splendor that accompanies nature, more specifically daffodils, previously felt by Wordsworth. The poem truly begins when Wordsworth comes across a field of daffodils after walking along the coast. The daffodils keep the speaker comp...
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” (John Muir). Both John Muir and William Wordsworth demonstrate this through their use of language as they describe nature scenes. John Muir studies nature and in his essay about locating the Calypso Borealis he uses scientific descriptions to grab his reader’s attention and to portray his excitement at finding the rare flower. William Wordsworth on the other hand shows his appreciation for the beauty of nature and its effect on a person’s emotions in the vivid visual descriptions that he gives of the daffodils in his poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud.’ Wordsworth with his appreciation of beauty and Muir through scientific descriptions provide an indication of the influence that nature has had on them as they capture their reader’s attention both emotionally and visually through their personal and unique use of tone, diction, syntax and vocabulary.
Towering whitecaps hurl pebbles onto a moonlit beach like children splashing each other, as tall pale cliffs stand behind them watching; their white faces glitter with parental pride. Over and over, the shallow water is filled with the flying stones. From watching the tides, humans have thought that the Ocean is a living force due to its sudden tendency to wreak havoc with seemingly random storms. People that live today know better, and have come to appreciate the Ocean for all the benefit it provides. However, many poets do not see the sea the same as the rest of us. Take for example the poet and scholar Matthew Arnold. His poem Dover Beach is deeply pessimistic, and possesses negative
Wordsworth desires nature only because of his separateness, and the more isolated he feels the mor...
Unlike her brother, Dorothy seems to be less solitary in her experiences, her accounts of what happened and who was with her are less personal than William’s. Dorothy tends to include everyone who surrounded her at that point and time – ‘We [Dorothy and her brother William] were in the woods beyond Gowbarrow park’ – whereas William makes it a companionless experience, he forgets everyone that may have been sharing the moment with him – ‘I wandered lonely as a Cloud’ . This, in conjunction with the use of imagery, similes and personification, not only makes William’s poems more accessible to a wide range of readers but it also adds character and personality, whereas Dorothy’s journal tends to be more reserved and closed to interpretation. Although both use semantic field of nature, William’s use is more affective as it conveys emotion, passion and attachment to his work.
In “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth accomplishes his ideal of nature by using personification, alliteration, and simile within his poem to convey to the reader how nature’s beauty uplifts his spirits and takes him away from his boring daily routine. Wordsworth relates himself in solidarity to that of a cloud wandering alone, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1). Comparing the cloud and himself to that of a lonely human in low spirits of isolation, simultaneously the author compares the daffodils he comes across as he “floats on high o’er vales and hills” (line 2) to that of a crowd of people dancing (lines 3-6 and again in 12). Watching and admiring the dancing daffodils as he floats on by relating them to various beauties of
I chose the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth because I like the imagery in it of dancing daffodils. Upon closer examination, I realized that most of this imagery is created by the many metaphors and similes Wordsworth uses. In the first line, Wordsworth says "I wandered lonely as a cloud." This is a simile comparing the wondering of a man to a cloud drifting through the sky. I suppose the wandering cloud is lonely because there is nothing up there that high in the sky besides it. It can pass by unnoticed, touching nothing. Also, the image of a cloud brings to mind a light, carefree sort of wandering. The cloud is not bound by any obstacle, but can go wherever the whim of the wind takes it. The next line of poem says "I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils." Here Wordsworth is using a metaphor to compare the daffodils to a crowd of people and a host of angels. The word crowd brings to mind an image of the daffodils chattering amongst one another, leaning their heads near each other in the wind. The word host makes them seem like their golden petals are shimmering like golden halos on angels. It is interesting to note that daffodils do have a circular rim of petals in the middle that could look like a halo. Later in the poem Wordsworth uses another simile, saying the dancing of daffodils in the wind is "continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way." This line creates the image of the wind blowing the tops of random daffodils up and down in a haphazard matter, so they appear to glint momentarily as their faces catch the sun. This goes along with the next metaphor of the daffodils "tossing their heads in sprightly dance." Comparing their movement to a dance also makes me think of swirling, swishing yellow skirts moving in harmony.
Throughout the poem, the poet presents an overall meaning. The main meaning is that nature can bring happiness when it’s needed and that its beauty should be appreciated. The speaker of this poem makes a heaven out of a windy day and a bunch of daffodils. When he felt lonely, the daffodils around him, gave him a boost of joy. The poet is implying that people have become blind to the beauty of nature that is easily accessed, which is why he focused on the visual descriptions of the daffodils. Wordsworth wanted to emphasize the importance of
Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," and Gerard Manley Hopkins' "God's Grandeur" are similar in that both poems praise the beauty of the natural world and deplore man's role in that world. The style and tone of each poem is quite different, however. Arnold writes in an easy, flowing style and as the poem develops, reveals a deeply melancholy point of view. Hopkins writes in a very compressed, somewhat jerky style, using sentences heavy with alliteration and metaphors. His tone, though touched with sadness and perhaps even anger at man, unlike Arnold's poem, reveals an abiding sense of hope. Basically, each poet is presenting a very different view of Faith, and consequently of man's ultimate condition.
When a man becomes old and has nothing to look forward to he will always look back, back to what are called the good old days. These days were full of young innocence, and no worries. Wordsworth describes these childhood days by saying that "A single Field which I have looked upon, / Both of them speak of something that is gone: The Pansy at my feet Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream?"(190) Another example of how Wordsworth uses nature as a way of dwelling on his past childhood experiences is when he writes "O joy! That in our embers / Is something that doth live, / That nature yet remembers / What was so fugitive!" (192) Here an ember represents our fading years through life and nature is remembering the childhood that has escaped over the years. As far as Wordsworth and his moods go I think he is very touched by nature. I can picture him seeing life and feeling it in every flower, ant, and piece of grass that crosses his path. The emotion he feels is strongly suggested in this line "To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." (193) Not only is this showi...
The entire poem is about the interaction between nature and man. Wordsworth is clearly not happy about the things that man has done to the world. He describes Nature in detail in the second and third stanzas when he personifies the periwinkle and the flowers. He is thinking about the bad things that man has done to nature and he wants the reader to sit back and think about the fact that there used to be something so beautiful and alive, and because of man's ignorance and impatience, there is not a lot left. He also wants him to go sit in his own grove and actually see what is living and breathing and whether or not he enjoys it. Wordsworth makes it seem appealing to want to go and do this through his descriptions and thoughts, so that you get a feeling of what is there and what is being lost. He makes the reader want to go and see if those things, the budding twigs, the hopping birds, and the trailing periwinkle, really do exist and if they really are as alive as he says.
During Wordsworth time as a poet he made it his mission to have poetry be read by not only the aristocrats but also now the common man something that has never been done. In both poems Wordsworth makes his poems relatable by incorporating themes that everyone can relate to even if they haven’t personally had that experience, although both poems do differ when it comes down to structure and form but also when trying to convey a message, these poems are important because these ideas have never been done before and now even the average Joe can finally participate in a conversation about poetry and this brings two world together.
The poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth is about the poet’s mental journey in nature where he remembers the daffodils that give him joy when he is lonely and bored. The poet is overwhelmed by nature’s beauty where he thought of it while lying alone on his couch. The poem shows the relationship between nature and the poet, and how nature’s motion and beauty influences the poet’s feelings and behaviors for the good. Moreover, the process that the speaker goes through is recollected that shows that he isolated from society, and is mentally in nature while he is physically lying on his couch. Therefore, William Wordsworth uses figurative language and syntax and form throughout the poem to express to the readers the peace and beauty of nature, and to symbolize the adventures that occurred in his mental journey.
Wordsworth had two simple ideas that he put into his writing of poetry. One was that “poetry was the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” The second idea was that poets should describe simple scenes of nature in the everyday words, which in turn would create an atmosphere through the use of imagination (Compton 2).
In the poem “I Wandered lonely as a cloud,” by William Wordsworth reflects on the importance of a happy memory. William Wordsworth was inspired by his love for nature and by an event occurred with his sister during their vacation. This poem is about a lonely man who love flowers especially Daffodils, find himself imagining those beautiful, bright and golden Daffodils whenever he is sad and alone. Memorable moments are often a way to escape the problems of daily life because sometimes we just need to drop our problems and relax. We need something to concentrate on so that we can relax and this vision is exactly the type of relaxing method a lonely and sad person needs, just as the poet did in his in this poem.
In William Wordsworth’s poems, the role of nature plays a more reassuring and pivotal r ole within them. To Wordsworth’s poetry, interacting with nature represents the forces of the natural world. Throughout the three poems, Resolution and Independence, Tintern Abbey, and Michael, which will be discussed in this essay, nature is seen prominently as an everlasting- individual figure, which gives his audience as well as Wordsworth, himself, a sense of console. In all three poems, Wordsworth views nature and human beings as complementary elements of a sum of a whole, recognizing that humans are a sum of nature. Therefore, looking at the world as a soothing being of which he is a part of, Wordsworth looks at nature and sees the benevolence of the divinity aspects behind them. For Wordsworth, the world itself, in all its glory, can be a place of suffering, which surely occurs within the world; Wordsworth is still comforted with the belief that all things happen by the hands of the divinity and the just and divine order of nature, itself.