I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Stanza I

¹I wandered lonely as a cloud

²That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

³When all at once I saw a crowd,

⁴A host, of golden daffodils;

⁵Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

⁶Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Stanza II

⁷Continuous as the stars that shine

⁸And twinkle on the milky way,

⁹They stretched in never-ending line

¹⁰Along the margin of a bay:

¹¹Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

¹²Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Stanza III

¹³The waves beside them danced; but they

¹⁴Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

¹⁵A poet could not but be gay,

¹⁶In such a jocund company:

¹⁷I gazed — and gazed — but little thought

¹⁸What wealth the show to me had brought:

Stanza IV

¹⁹For oft, when on my couch I lie

²⁰In vacant or in pensive mood,

²¹They flash upon that inward eye

²²Which is the bliss of solitude;

²³And then my heart with pleasure fills,

²⁴And dances with the daffodils.