Daffodils

“Daffodils” is a lyric poem of 24 lines, divided into four rhyming stanzas with six lines each, known as sestets. The rhyme scheme of each sestet is ABABCC. The lines are written in iambic tetrameter, four groups of stressed followed by unstressed syllables. This creates a gentle, rhythmic sound, an even pace that mimics walking. Yet, what drives the underlying tension of the poem is William Wordsworth’s careful use of verbs. Although the poem begins in first-person past tense, the speaker seems to be actively searching through aimlessness (the “lonely” wanderer of the title). Urgency is achieved by the speaker’s noted surprise at seeing the field of daffodils. The use of gerund phrasing for the action of the daffodils such as “fluttering and dancing” (Line 6) and “tossing” (Line 12), as well as the “sparkling” (Line 14) sea, adds to the feeling of immediacy and amplifies the speaker’s longing to join their “jocund company” (Line 16). The liveliness of the experience is then missed when it’s revealed that it has past: “For oft, […] I lie / in vacant or in pensive mood” (Lines 19-20). Relief comes when the moment is revived and spoken of in the present tense.