Poem of the Day: "As a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

"As a Cloud" by William Wordsworth is the Songs of Eretz Poem of the Day for May 9, 2014.  It is in the public domain and therefore legally reprinted here.  Biographical information about Wordsworth may be found here:  http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2014/04/poem-of-day-world-is-too-much-with-us.html.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by 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.

I don't care what the contemporary poets may say--Wordsworth is still a pleasure to read--lyrical, pastoral, evocative of a time of romance and enlightenment.  The gentle, lilting iambic tetrameter and the predictable rhymes create the poetic equivalent of comfort food.  Also, I'm partial to daffodils http://eretzsongs.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-of-daffodils-by-william.html.