Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers
Daffodils Summary by William Wordsworth
Daffodils Summary About the Poet
William Wordsworth (7 April, 1770 – 23 April, 1850) was a British poet who was associated with the Romantic movement of the 19th Century along with Robert Southey and Samuel Coleridge, the group referred as the ‘Lakeland Poets’. Wordsworth was a keen observer of nature and had an excellent skill to pen down the beauty of nature artistically, yet in a simple and straight forward manner. He began publishing at the age of 23 with a collection of poetries like ‘Descriptive Sketches’. In 1798, he published ‘Lyrical Ballads’ along with Coleridge, followed by ‘Elegiac Stanzas’ and ‘Poems, in Two Volumes’ in 1803 and 1805 respectively. He was considered as ‘Britain’s Poet Laureate’. For Wordsworth, poetry was “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”
Daffodils Summary
Wordsworth considered nature, a place representing the ultimate source of joy and knowledge. The poem ‘Daffodils’ appreciates the beauty of nature. The poet states that the recollection of the wonderful sight of thousands of daffodils, dancing joyfully, cleans the soul and uplifts the spirit of the speaker when he later finds himself feeling empty and gloomy.
Daffodils Explanation of the Poem
Stanza 1. “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.”
Explanation: In the first stanza we find the poet roaming aimlessly like a cloud over valleys and hills. Here, we find a touch of melancholy in his tone. Suddenly, he happens to come across a large number of daffodils growing under the trees near the lake. By comparing himself to a cloud, the poet signifies his closeness with nature that surrounds him. The daffodils were dancing and inviting the poet to join and enjoy the breeze flowing in the fields.
Word Meanings :
1. Vales — Valleys
2. Host — Group, a large number
3. Fluttering — Moving in quick succession, flapping rapidly
Stanza 2. “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 lata glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.”
Explanation: Here, the poet compares the daffodils along the bay with the stars stretched in a continuous line in the galaxy, like the Milky Way. Their shine is contrasted to the twinkling of the stars. The poet seems to be profoundly charmed by the swaying movement of the flowers due to the breeze and he remarks that the flowers seem to dance in exuberance.
Word Meanings:
1. Never-ending — Unlimited, continuous
2. Glance — Look
3. Tossing — Moving back and forth or sideways
4. Sprightly — Lively, cheerful
Stanza 3. “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.”
Explanation: The poet personifies the waves in the bay and says that they too were happily dancing along with the daffodils, but the daffodils outshone the waves by showing joy and cheerfulness. The poet cannot prevent himself from being elated in such a happy company. The sight of the dazzling daffodils seems to enrich the life of the poet with joy and tranquility, so he could not take his eyes off them.
Word Meanings :
1. Out-did — Defeated
2. Sparkling — Glittering
3. Jocund — Merry
4. Gazed — Stared
Stanza 4. “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.”
Explanation: The last stanza clarifies why the poet was so enthralled by the daffodils. The sight of the dancing daffodils remains dormant in the poet’s sub-conscious mind and, whenever he was in a vacant or lonely mood, lying on his couch, the memory of the daffodils raised his low spirits, filling his mind with immense pleasure and thus, he feels elated. Daffodils have left an everlasting precious memory in the poet’s mind. They become a ‘bliss of solitude’ i.e., ‘the blessing of being alone’, for him.
Word Meanings :
1. Vacant – Unoccupied
2. Pensive – Quietly sad or thoughtful
3. Bliss – Complete happiness
4. Solitude – Loneliness; seclusion
Daffodils Summary Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
” 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.”
(i) Whom has the poet compared himself with? Name the figure of speech used here.
(ii) What does the poet come across on his way? Which movements are associated with what he finds?
(iii) What transition of mood does the speaker undergo?
(iv) Give the meaning of-
(a) wondered (b) fluttering
(v) Describe the beauty of the daffodils as illustrated by the poet in the first stanza. Name the figure of speech is used here.
Answer:
(i) The poet compares himself with the cloud that floats all alone, atop many hills and valleys.
The figure of speech used here is ‘Simile’.
(ii) The poet suddenly comes across a crowd of golden daffodils growing under the trees beside the lake.
The daffodils were ‘fluttering’ and ‘dancing’ in the breeze.
(iii) The first two lines of the poem describe that the poet was ‘lonely’, but the sight of the beautiful daffodils drew the speaker towards a positive progression of mood. He no longer feels lonely.
(iv) (a) walk leisurely (b) flapping rapidly
(v) The poet sees a huge number of daffodils which looked like golden in colour, due to the sunlight falling on them. They were in a joyous mood as they seemed to be waving and dancing.
The figure of speech used here is ‘Personification’.
Question 2.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“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 lata glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.”
(i) What are the daffodils compared to in the second stanza? Which quality do both share?
(ii) How are they stretched?
(iii) Describe in your words the poet’s feeling when he sees a host of golden daffodils.
(iv) Give the meaning of-
(a) Milky Way (b) bay
(v) How many of them does the poet see and what are they busy doing?
Answer:
(i) The daffodils resemble the stars that shine in the Galaxy like the Milky Way. The daffodils seem to be as unlimited as the stars in the Galaxy.
(ii) They are stretched in an infinite line along the edge of the bay.
(iii) The poet felt ecstatic to see a host of golden daffodils by the side of the lake under the trees, shaking their head in a joyful dance. On seeing them, the poet’s imagination travelled to another world to find a comparison. He was reminded of the stars twinkling in the Milky Way at night.
(iv) (a) the Galaxy which the sun and the solar system are a part of, and which contain the myriads of stars that create the light of the Milky Way.
(b) a small body of water set off from the main body.
(v) The poet sees a large flower bed of daffodils; around ten thousand of them rejoicing and dancing out of alacrity, in the breeze.
Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“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.”
(i) Who was competing with, the daffodils in dancing? What was the competition and who won?
(ii) Give the meaning of ‘Jocund’. How will any poet be effected in such a company?
(iii) Why does the poet say ‘I gazed had brought’?
(iv) Give the meaning of
(a) glee (b) sparkling
(v) Which ‘show’ does the poet refqf to? What question arises in his mind?
Answer:
(i) The waves of the river flowing beside the daffodils were accompanied with dancing and competing with them. But the daffodils defeated the waves in the show of happiness through dancing.
(ii) Jocund means ‘lively and happy’. In such a cheerful and joyous company, i.e., in the presence of such beautiful and gay flowers, the poet cannot prevent himself from being ecstatic.
(iii) The poet was moving about aimlessly over the high valleys and hills watching the beautiful nature when he comes across a great number of golden daffodils expressing their joy by flattering. The poet feels delighted at this sight and stops to gaze at them. He is surprised as he is unable to decide what treasure the present moment has brought him.
(iv) (a) a strong feeling of happiness (b) shining bright and lively
(v) The ‘show’ of ‘beautiful dancing golden daffodils’ keeps the poet mesmerized.
The poet fails to understand what happiness did this continuous gazing bring to him and what enormous treasure he was accumulating in his mind.
Question 4.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
“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.”
(i) How does the memory of the daffodils make the poet happy when his mind is devoid of happiness?
(ii) What does the poet mean by ‘bliss of solitude’?
(iii) What impact do the daffodils leave on the poet?
(iv) Give the meaning of
(a) couch (b) pensive
(v) What happens to the poet’s mind when he recalls the memory of the daffodils?
Answer:
(i) The vista of the daffodils has soaked the mind of the poet. Later, when the poet laid on his couch either in a lonely or sad mood, the entire panorama that he saw in the woods appeared before his eyes and he experienced an ecstatic pleasure, which he had actually enjoyed in the past.
(ii) ‘Bliss of solitude’ means the blessing of loneliness. The poet explains that, whenever he is away from the hustle-bustle of the real world and in a lonely mood, the spiritual vision of daffodils flashes in his mind and fills his heart with extreme happiness.
(iii) William Wordsworth, who is popularly known as a nature poet, is left overjoyed by the daffodils. He is so moved that he personifies them, by exaggerating their presence. Throughout the poem, we find him talking about his happiness in the company of the flowers. He is extremely charmed by their beauty and the memory remained with him always as, ‘The bliss of Solitude’.
(iv) (a) A long piece of furniture to sit or lie down (b) Quielty sad or thoughtful
(v) When the poet’s mind is unrestrained by the disturbing elements of the real world, he revives the pleasant and soothing memory of the daffodils which become of a source of joy and inspiration for him, and he feels his heart elated and dancing with the daffodils. Thus, the daffodils become an eternal memory of extraordinary delight for Wordsworth.