I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Although the speaker in the poem compares himself to a cloud, he does not consider himself to be at one with nature. However, a shift in perspective takes place in the poem when he sees a “crowd” (Line 3) of daffodils that are “dancing” (Line 6). This personification brings nature into the human plane, allowing the speaker to realize that he is, in fact, a part of what he sees, even when he seems to be at a remove from it.

This is reinforced by the fact that he is no longer lonely once he encounters the daffodils. Their very plurality suggests fellowship. The speaker is momentarily transported, no longer “I” but “A poet,” viewing himself objectively as one living being among others: “A poet could not but be gay, / In such a jocund company” (Lines 15-16).

The daffodils may seem like celestial bodies that “twinkle on the milky way” (Line 8), but they are embodied on “the margin of the bay” (Line 10) and are therefore within the speaker’s reach. Their vivid physicality at the end of the third stanza, expressed in the line “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance” (Line 12), shows that the speaker is close to them, emotionally if not physically.