Read the following extract from William Wordsworth’s poem, ‘Daffodils’ and answer the questions that
follow:
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) Wordsworth uses the words, ‘wandered’ and ‘lonely’ to describe himself in the opening lines of the poem.
What mood do these words convey?
What led to a change in his mood?
(ii) How does Wordsworth describe the sight that met his eyes?
Give a brief description of what the poet saw.
(iii) To what does the poet compare this sight?
How is this comparison appropriate?
(iv) What does the poet mean when he says, ‘Ten thousand saw I at a glance’?
Find two other words in the given extract that create the impression of large numbers.
(v) What immediate effect did this sight have on Wordsworth?
How did it affect him in the long-term? What does this poem tell us about Wordsworth’s attitude to Nature?
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(i)Thesewordscreateamelancholicmood.Itshows
that the poet is wandering aimlessly and is lonely.
On seeing the daffodils ‘fluttering and dancing’ in
the field, the mood of the poet changes.
(ii) The poet says that when he was wandering lonely
over valleys and hills, he suddenly saw a ‘crowd’
of golden daffodils. These daffodils were ‘fluttering
and dancing’ on a breezy day by the lake. It looked
as if the daffodils were dancing and inviting the
poet to join and enjoy the breeze flowing in the
fields.
(iii) The poet compares this sight to the numerous stars
that ‘twinkle on the milky way’. The shine of the
daffodils is compared 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.
(iv) The poet in the line ‘Ten thousand saw I at a glance’
means that at one look he could see innumerable
Oswaal ISC Question Bank Chapterwise & Topicwise, ENGLISH-2, Class-X 8
daffodils as if there were ten thousand of them.
Two other words that create the impression of large
numbers are ‘crowd’ and ‘host’.
(v) The sight of the daffodils being present in large
numbers along the shore of the lake, spellbinds the
poet and he, in a quick glance guesses them to be
‘ten thousand’.
The poet could not help to be happy in such a
joyful company of flowers. He says that he stared
and stared, but did not realise what wealth the
scene would bring him. For now, whenever he
feels “vacant” or “pensive”, the memory strikes
“that inward eye” that is “the bliss of solitude” and
his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the
daffodils.”
ThistellsusthatWordsworthisverymuchattached
to the nature and that nature is an important part of
his life. When the poet’s mind is unrestrained by
thedisturbingelementsoftherealworld,herevives
the pleasant and soothing memory of the daffodils
which becomes a source of joy and inspiration for
him, and he feels his heart filled with pleasure and
dancing with the daffodils. So, the nature helps him
cope with the solitude in his life.