I wandered lonely as a cloud
...that the day to which the poem refers to was full of furious winds and heavy rain, in which they tried to run away from. This running away symbolizes man in general running away from nature. The poem by William Wordsworth expands from this thought and contains numerous similarities that classify what we know and distinguish today as a lyrical poem. Wordsworth takes his sister's experience and gains his own; one of beauty and understanding versus his sister's running away. To him, and other lyrical poets, in order for man to grow and mature, he/she must face nature. When this balance is gained, the poet has been successful. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is a perfect example of what Romantic poets sought, the primacy of imagination over reason. The poem begins with the evidence of an error, resolves the problem, and shows at the end a proof of authenticity. Love is created, and therefore, the poet can never hate or destroy nature. The poem begins with someone wandering. The person is lost, not literally, but philosophically and spiritually. The person has subjected himself/herself to the restrictions and classifications that society has placed on certain ways of life. The person does not yet see nature as being anything more than society's interpretation, and therefore, nature, is not yet a part of man. In the third line, the person sees for the first time. The "crowd" of "golden daffodils" that are "beside the lake, beneath the trees" are "fluttering and dancing in the breeze". Before, the metaphors of the daffodils "fluttering and dancing" are just those mere metaphors but, soon enough, through experience, they will transform into much more. The metaphors were dead to the reader, but come alive at the end of the poem. In the second stanza, the poet begins to see more and more as stars begin to "shine" and "twinkle". The poet continues to see--still at a glance--the stars dancing. In the third stanza, the waves also begin to dance. The poet is now happy. Although the poet is authentically experiencing nature, he is not yet actively involved in it. He is drawing a blank of rationality, falling in love, and not thinking, but feeling. In the last stanza, th...