English Literature

William Wordsworth

(1770-1850)

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

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

Outdid 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 in 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 hearth with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Analysis:

Wordsworth had nature as his religion, and that was the main theme of his work and also a characteristic of romanticism. And it’s also very clear on this poem.

As literary devices, we have Alliteration on the second line of the first stanza, alliteration and assonance on the fifth line of the first stanza and personification on the last line of the first stanza.

On the second stanza, we have a simile on the first line, inversion on the eleventh line and personification on the last line.

On the third stanza, we have assonance, alliteration and repetition of the word “waves” on the first line, and again repetition on the seventeenth line.

On the forth stanza, we have antithesis on the twentieth line and a metaphor on the twenty-first line. We also have alliteration on the last line.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(1772-1834)

Part II of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The sun now rose upon the right:

Out of the carne he,

Still hid in mist, and on the left

Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,

But no sweet bird did follow,

Nor any day for food or play

Came to the mariners' hollo!

And I had done an hellish thing,

And it would work 'em woe:

For all averred, I had killed the bird

That made the breeze to blow.

Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay

That made the breeze to blow!

Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,

The glorious Sun uprist:

Then all averred, I had killed the bird

That brought the fog and mist.

'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,

That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free:

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea.

Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,