"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth is a lyrical poem that deals with the mental state of the speaker. The description of the process that the speaker goes through is depicted by a natural scene in which the speaker, the plants and the surrounding environment come together. The poem is written in figurative language, combining images, similes, and words denoting moods, atmosphere, and colors to reflect changes in the speaker's position. These changes are physical, psychological and emotional. In this essay I will discuss the connection between the natural scene and the speaker's state of mind by analyzing the imagery and figurative language of the poem. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poem begins with a simile, which the speaker uses to describe his process of wondering or thinking as the metaphysical, free and aimless wandering of a cloud on its celestial path above the earth: “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (l.1). The speaker has no intention or purpose in his actions; let the muse, or the wind, take him where they might lead him. Just like the cloud, earthly rules or events do not bind him. However, despite the freedom and the absence of some kind of attachment or obligation, the speaker finds himself alone and secluded. It could suggest that he does not feel connected to the physical, earthly world of man and therefore chooses to identify with a cloud, floating above, alien to what happens below, a passive spectator. This state changes when he surprisingly notices many daffodils by the lake: "Suddenly I saw a crowd / A host of golden daffodils;" (l.3-4). To emphasize the numerous flowers he uses two words one after the other, "crowd" and "a host". There is a contradiction between the speaker's position and that of the daffodils: he is alone while they outnumber him, he is above and they are below (under the trees). The speaker personifies daffodils and describes their movement in the wind as an act of "fluttering" and "dancing." The atmosphere in this scene is very calm, peaceful and harmonious. The wind connects the speaker's worlds like a cloud in the sky and the daffodils, moving in the light breeze. In the second stanza the speaker uses another simile to compare the golden daffodils to the brilliance of the stars. Now, earthly daffodils are identified with something from the speaker's metaphorical world (celestial universe). The speaker raises them and places them above him, like the stars of the Milky Way, and thus brings them closer to him. The speaker attributes to daffodils an aspect of eternity, an infinite quality that they possess, which has no limits: he describes them as "continuous" (l.7), "stretched in an endless line" (l.9). They are countless, like the stars in the sky. The speaker repeats the description of his encounter with the daffodils as he did in the first stanza, when he attempted to do something nearly impossible such as capture ten thousand daffodils with a single "look" (l.11). The speaker is struck by the number of flowers and their movements in the wind, "waving their heads in a merry dance" (l.12). The speaker uses another personification, which expresses the vividness and vitality of flowers as part of nature and as a group, working together. In the third stanza the speaker expresses his emotions openly and directly as he leaves the lonely cloud for the company of the cheerful company of daffodils, who with their cheerful dance could overcome even the waves (l.13-14). The speaker feels he belongs somewhere, states his purpose or destination as a poet - creator of the literary piece, which commemorates the magnificence of the daffodils: "A poet could not but be gay / In such joyous company" (l. 15- 16). This is a game changer.