Model Poem: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Intan Zakiyah, an English teacher from Malang, East Java, Indonesia, analyzes a model poem entitling I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud. He comments that the poem is not appropriate for Junior High School level, because the vocabularies are too difficult. Moreover, it also uses some terms and structure that might be difficult to understand by junior high school students. So, it is more appropriate for the higher level students.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
by William Wordsworth

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.

1. Type of poem: Model poem (because it is composed by adult/renown poets).

2. Paraphrase: This poem tells about a lonely person who relives beautiful things that makes him happy.

3. Poetic devices:

     a.  Rhyme: a, b, a, b, c, c

     b.  Rhythm: this poem consists of 4 stanzas; each stanza has 6 lines that is called sestet, which is written in iambic tetrameter.

     c.  Alliteration:

          -    What wealth the show to me had brought

          -    And dances with the daffodils

     d.  Onomatopoeia: -

     e.  Repetition: gazed, daffodils 

     f.  Comparison:

          -    Simile: I wandered lonely as a cloud, Continuous as the stars that shine

          -    Personification: The waves beside them danced

          -    Hyperbole: Ten thousand saw I at a glance

4.  Poetic diction:

     The words used in this poem have denotative meaning, but they can also have the interpretative meaning.

5.  Content:

     a. Theme: reliving a beautiful memory

     b. Tone: inspiring

     c. Message: we should not be sad when we are lonely, because we can relive our beautiful memory that makes us feel happy.

     d. Symbol: daffodils (it is one kind of flower which symbolizes happiness)

6.  Comment:

     This poem is not appropriate for junior high school level, because the vocabularies are too difficult; it also uses some terms and structure that might be difficult to understand by junior high school students. So, it is more appropriate for the higher level students.