Daffodils
_ William Wordsworth
Word Galaxy:
- Floats: moves easily or lightly
- Vales: valleys
- Host: (here) a large number of daffodils
- Fluttering: the motion by flapping up and down
- Glance: brief look
- Jocund: cheerful merry
- Pensive: deeply thoughtful
- Solitude: the state of being alone
Fill in the blanks:
- The poet wandered as lonely as a cloud.
- The daffodils were fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
- The poet saw ten thousand daffodils at a glance.
- The waves beside the daffodils also danced in the breeze.
- Memories of the daffodils filled the poet’s heart with pleasure.
Q.1 What was the poet doing?
Ans. The poet was wandering alone in the countryside.
Q.2 While the poet was wandering, what did he see and where did he see them?
Ans. The poet saw a host of golden daffodils while he was wandering. He saw the daffodils growing beside the lake, beneath the trees.
Q.3 How many daffodils does the poet say that he saw at a glance? Why does he say so?
Ans. The poet says that he saw ten thousand daffodils at a glance. He says so in order to highlight that the hole area along the lake was covered with blooming, uncountable daffodils.
Q.4 Why does it appear that waves and daffodils are competing?
Ans. When the poet saw the daffodils they appeared to be tossing their head in sprightly dance. The waves in the bay beside which the daffodils grew also appeared to be moving in a joyful dance. Moreover, the poet felt that the movement of the daffodils was better than that of the sparkling waves. Thus, it appears as though the daffodils and the waves were competing.
Q.5 What does the first line of the poem tell you?
Ans. The first line tells us that the poet wanders lonely as a cloud.
Q.6 What does the poet compares the daffodils to? Why does he make such a comparison?
Ans. The poet compares the daffodils to the stars that shine and a twinkle in the Milky Way. The poet makes such a comparison because to him, the daffodils seem to grow in never-ending lines like the stars in a galaxy. Also, the yellow daffodils seem to shine and glow brightly like the stars twinkling in the sky.
Q.7 read and answer the following questions:
|
Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay |
a. What does ‘They’ refer to?
Ans. ‘They’ refer to the daffodils.
b. What does the poet compare them to?
Ans. The poet compares them to the galaxy of innumerable stars in the sky.
c. Why does he do so?
Ans. The glowing daffodils, sparkling in the sunlight, were stretched along the bay. This appeared like the twinkling stars, to the poet.
Q.8 Identify the figure of speech in the following lines:
a. ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’
Ans. Simile
b. ‘Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Ans. Personification
c. ‘Continuous as the stars that shine’
Ans. Alliteration
Q.9 What does ‘jocund company’ mean?
Ans. ‘Jocund Company’ means a cheerful company. The joyful company of daffodils was the ultimate source of pleasure for the poet and he can feel nothing but happiness in that company.
Q.10 Explain the lines: ‘Outdid the sparkling waves in glee…’
Ans. The poet says that there were waves which were dancing in the lake but there was no match for the waves of daffodils rippling in the breeze. The joyful dance of daffodils was a way better than theirs.
Q.11 Describe the poet’s thoughts on seeing the daffodils.
Ans. The poet felt that one cannot be anything but happy in the company of the cheerful daffodils. The beautiful daffodils filled his heart with joy.
\Q.12 What is the ‘wealth’ the poet gained?
Ans. The wealth that the poet gained from the daffodils was the wealth of happiness that fills his heart when he thinks of the daffodils.
Q.13 How do we know that ‘this’ show of the daffodils had a long-lasting effect on the poet?
Ans. The poet gives us the vivid description of the daffodils and the place where he saw them. The poet also mentions that when he saw the daffodils he didn’t realize the wealth the experience he had accumulated. However, later on, when he sat in the thoughtful mood the image of the daffodils flashed in his mind. This tells us that the show of the daffodils has had a long-lasting effect on the poet.
Q.14 When does the poet remember the daffodils? How does he feel?
Ans. The poet often remembers the daffodils when he rests on his couch in a deep and pensive mood. The memory of the daffodils fills his heart with pleasure.
Q.15 Read the extract and answer the following questions:
|
“That ………………. Flash upon …………………. the bliss of solitude.” |
a. Give the synonym of the word ‘bliss’.
Ans. Pleasure/happiness
b. What is referred to as ‘they’?
Ans. ‘They’ refers to the daffodils.
c. When do they flash upon the poet’s inward eye?
Ans. The scene of the daffodils flash upon the poet’s inward eyewhen he lies on his couch in a pensive mood.
d. Where did the poet see them?
Ans. The poet saw several daffodils fluttering in the breeze, under the trees, along the margin of the bay.
Q.16 Read and answer the following questions:
|
When all at ones A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze |
a. How did the speaker feels when he saw the daffodils?
Ans. The speaker felt light-hearted and happy when he saw the daffodils.
b. How do the phrases ‘beside the lake’ and ‘beneath the trees’ add to the effect?
Ans. The phrases ‘beside the lake’ and ‘beneath the trees’ convey what the speaker had observed. The reader understands that the speaker’s encounter with the daffodils was not imaginary, it happened in real life.
c. How does the speaker convey the idea that there were lots of them?
Ans. The speaker conveys the idea that there were lots of them by using the words ‘crowd’ and ‘host’.
Q.17 What impression does the word ‘wandered’ create? What if the speaker had used the word ‘walked’ instead? Would the effect have been the same?
Ans. The word ‘wandered’ conveys the delicate movement of a floating cloud. The speaker much like the cloud is not guided by any sense of direction. The word ‘walked’ would not convey the same image as ‘wandered’. The word ‘wandered’ creates the impression of a carefree soul. ‘Wandered’ sounds more poetic than ‘walked’.
Q.18 Read and answer the following questions:
|
The waves beside them danced, But they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee; A poet could not be but gay, In such a jocund company. |
a. Why does the poet say that the waves were dancing?
Ans. The sparkling waves reflecting the sunlight kept moving back and forth in the wind and appeared to be dancing, to the poet.
b. What does the poet mean by ‘out-did the sparkling waves in glee’?
Ans. The poet felt extremely happy and delighted in the cheerful company of the flowers.
Q.19 Describe the lasting impression of the daffodils on the poet.
Ans. The poet was captivated by the beauty of the daffodils which he saw near the trees and by the side of the river. The daffodils tossing their heads as if dancing to the tune of the breeze, and sparkling like the stars in the galaxy, in their vibrant golden colour, gave him great pleasure at the moment. But little did the poet realize that the delightful experience would never vanish from his mind, as whenever the poet was lonely or in a sad mood, the very flash of the golden daffodils in his mind made him happy again.
Q.20 How does the mood of the poet change in the poem daffodils?
Ans. In the beginning, the poet describes himself as a lonely cloud that floats over the hills and valleys, thus creating a melancholic feeling. This feeling soon gives way to one of joy in the presence of rows of daffodils. The poet, who is a lover of nature, is transmitted from the world of loneliness to one of long-lasting happiness at the sight of these golden-yellow flowers that provide much comfort to his lonely heart.
Q.21 How does the poem make use of contrast in the poem daffodils?
Ans. The poet was all alone and wandered aimlessly while the bright and lively daffodils stretched along the bay and were close together. He appeared to be melancholy mood. In contrast, the daffodils fluttered and danced, tossing their head and displaying exuberance in their movement.