1. Reading Lesson

The Daffodils

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

Outdid 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.

- William Wordsworth.

2. Study

jocund, gay; pensive, thoughtful; solitude, being alone.

What picture comes to your mind as you read the first two lines? What new picture is shown by the rest of the stanza? In how many ways does the post make you feel that there were great numbers of daffodils? What is the milky way?

How does he compare the daffodils and the waves? How did seeing the daffodils affect the poet?

The poet says that the daffodils brought him wealth. What was the greatest wealth they brought him? What is the inward eye?

3. Word Studies

Write a synonym for each word in the list: vales beneath golden host.

margin glance sprightly bliss.

glee gazed wealth couch.

4. Memory Work

Copy this poem and learn it.