Daffodils William Wordsworth Lesson Objectives Expand on your

Daffodils William Wordsworth

Lesson Objectives • Expand on your use of poetic terminology. • Explore theme of nature and how it links to key emotions. • Develop your ability to embed quotations when responding to questions.

Starter Activity Loneliness is a key theme in today’s poem. Look at the following images, write down three creative sentences using nature to describe the feeling of loneliness. Challenge: in each of your sentences try to include a creative technique. For example: ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ – simile.

Key Terms… Caesura - A caesura is a break in a verse where one phrase ends and the following phrase begins. It may be a comma, a tick, or two lines, either slashed or upright. Enjambment - (in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. Examples: ‘Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, ’ ‘I think that I shall never see A poem as lovely as a tree. ’ Task: For both of these examples, explain how the use of enjambment/caesura is effective. Think about how the techniques help express the meaning of the language used.

Daffodils – William Wordsworth Task: Annotate the poem individually first and then comment on the following points: • Subject – what is the poem about? • Speaker – what do you learn about the speaker? • Form – how is the poem set out on the page? • Meter – the rhythm of the poem.

The theme of Nature The speaker says that, wandering like a cloud floating above hills and valleys, he encountered a field of daffodils beside a lake. The dancing, fluttering flowers stretched endlessly along the shore, and though the waves of the lake danced beside the flowers, the daffodils outdid the water in glee. The speaker says that a poet could not help but be happy in such a joyful company of flowers. He says that he stared and stared, but did not realise what wealth the scene would bring him. For now, whenever he feels “vacant” or “pensive, ” the memory flashes upon “that inward eye / That is the bliss of solitude, ” and his heart fills with pleasure, “and dances with the daffodils. ” Task: Select six quotations from the poem that show nature has impacted on the speaker’s emotions. Write them in your books and annotate in detail.

Embedding Quotations… Example The daffodils are continually personified as human beings, dancing and “tossing their heads” in “a crowd, a host. ” This technique implies an inherent unity between man and nature, making it clear to the reader that the setting brings joy and happiness to a once lonely individual. Key Question How does the speaker make a link between nature and memory? (when responding to this question, you must embed your quotations, refer to the example above to help you).

STAR Time! • Use a different colour pen • Make at least three changes to your work.