William Wordsworth’ Description of Passion as Depicted in His Poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Analysis of the poem

Upon reading William Wordsworth’s poem, it was kind of unclear of what he was trying to say. However, when I read the poem a couple more times out loud, I slowly got to pick up his message and the elements within his poem. Elements such as emotions, nature, and individuality have been found within William Wordsworth’s poem. All these three elements all help deliver a message within the poem. When analyzing each line within the poem, it reveals a specific element along with a message the author is trying to tell you.

The romantic element Nature plays a significant role in William Wordsworth’s poem. In lines 3-4 in “The World Is Too Much with Us”, William states “Little we see in Nature that is ours; we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” It may not sound like that there is a message here, but if you read it carefully, you can slowly understand the message. What William Wordsworth was trying to say is that since everyone is cramped into one city, they don’t get to see a lot of nature. With that, people are dedicating their hearts to their lives, instead of the nature around them.

Another romantic element found in the poems is emotion. In the poem “The World Is Too Much with Us”, in lines 8-10 the author states “For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;” The author uses the logic of how everything is not in order. Humanity and nature are isolated from each other, which makes the author mad. The author would rather be a heathen rather than to be a part of what humanity has become.

One last romantic element found within the poems is individuality. “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.” (Lines 19-24; I Wander Lonely As a Cloud) In this quoted phrase, the author finds himself as an individual. Whenever he is on his couch, not in the mood, he thinks about the happy daffodils dancing. Since the author is living in a world where humanity and nature isn’t united as one, him thinking of daffodils dancing in a field makes him finds himself as an individual.

Conclusion

Everybody has different ways of expressing their feelings. William Wordsworth wanted to express his feelings through a poem. When writing his poems, humanity and nature were not united. In order to express how he felt about that, William Wordsworth used romantic elements. Romantic elements such as nature, emotion, and individuality are what helped put a message behind the lyrics of his poem.