Where and how was the poet wandering in "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"?
The poet does not say in this poem precisely where he is when he is out wandering. He compares himself to a cloud floating "o'er vales and hills," which perhaps suggests that he, too, is out among the hills. Certainly, we know that when he comes upon the array of golden daffodils, he is somewhere in the depths of nature, because the daffodils are "beside the lake, beneath the trees."
It does not seem as if the poet expected to find such a beautiful show on his wanderings, so we can infer from this that he was not walking with purpose. On the contrary, his wanderings seem to be a matter of habit. The poet, Wordsworth, was well known for his fondness for country walks, which he often embarked upon with his sister and his fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
In the final stanza of the poem, we see a...
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second sort of "wandering" indulged in by the poet. Here, he revisits the array of dancing daffodils in his mind. He is not physically out in the natural world, but he can go back to what he saw in his mind whenever he wants to and draw sustenance from the memory.
In the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," what is the poet doing?
The main activity in the poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a nature walk. Wordsworth is out walking near his home in England's Lake District. His walk is more accurately described as a wandering in the opening lines and title of the poem. He compares himself to a cloud floating over the hills and valleys:
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills
He is literally wandering around near a lake by himself when he comes upon a field of "golden daffodils." He suggests the flowers are "dancing" as he sees them next to the bay. He mentions how he "gazed and gazed" at the beautiful flowers and wondered what value they might have for him in the future.
In the final stanza he is simply engaged in thought. He ponders the effect the flowers have had on him and realizes that when he is alone and in deep thought they bring incredible joy to his heart and soul when he considers the mental image of the dancing daffodils.