I wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth

I recorded this the day after a life altering two lectures by Lisa VanDamme at Objectivist Conference 2019 "Literature and the Quest for Meaning," and "John Keats Life and Poetry." They should be up on youtube soon, I'll get the links.

In this Sunday Morning Poetry I compare one of the poems she taught us with a poem by William Wordsworth. There are several recommendations for other resources by Lisa and Dr. Leonard Peikoff that helped guide me in reading poetry. Make sure to join Lisa's group and download her app at www.readwithmebookgroup.com.

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

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
 Out-did 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 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.

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
 Let it not be among the jumbled heap
 Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,—
 Nature’s observatory—whence the dell,
 Its flowery slopes, its river’s crystal swell,
 May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
 ’Mongst boughs pavillion’d, where the deer’s swift leap
 Startles the wild bee from the fox-glove bell.
 But though I’ll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
 Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
 Whose words are images of thoughts refin’d,
 Is my soul’s pleasure; and it sure must be
 Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
 When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.