Figurative Language In William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

761 Words2 Pages

William Wordsworth’s I wandered lonely as a cloud (rpt. in Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015] 1022) exemplifies the beauty of nature can uplift one that feels lonely. Throughout the poem, the speaker presumes to be battling the issue of loneliness. The speaker appears to discover an inner peace as they focus on the astonishing beauty nature offers. Wordsworth uses a great array of figurative language to create a much deeper meaning behind a magnificent scene in nature. The poem is divided into four stanzas containing six lines in each. The first three stanzas involve detailed imagery describing a splendid nature scene. The last stanza illustrates the speaker’s imagination while reminiscing about the joy nature brings him. The rhyme scheme used in this poem is ABABCC. Throughout the work, figurative language is nothing less than abundant. Repetition is a key factor as each stanza contains dance in some form; daffodils are also mentioned in the first and last stanzas, however, the daffodils are referenced in each stanza. Personification, symbol, and imagery, …show more content…

The “cloud” (1) is implied to symbolize the speaker walking around alone. The “vales and hills” (1) can also suggest the speaker has to overcome obstacles in life unaccompanied by anyone. “Daffodils” (4) are a representation of people, possibly to help the speaker cope with the loneliness. A key symbol in this poem is dancing, which will be repeated in the following stanzas. “Dancing” (4) indicates a sense of happiness to the speaker. The use of personification is also represented in a sense the “cloud” (1) is given human-like characteristics of being “lonely” (1) and “wandering,” (1) just as the speaker. The daffodils are also given the personas of being in a “crowd” (3) and “dancing” (6) as the wind is

Open Document