Thursday, June 20, 2024

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, 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.

***

This was the first one. I memorized this in the summer of 2016 (is that right?) when I started working at AIT. I took the kids to Camp Snoopy every day before work, drop them off, work 8 hours, pick them up, make the trek home. What a treasure that summer was - the kids saw Gma and Gpa every day. Pool time, adventures, chores. 

I tasked the kids with memorizing a poem. Some were more serious than others about the assignment. Something clicked for me and I wanted more, so I've been on this little journey since then.



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