Shobah's post : Daffodils

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D 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 stretch'd 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.

- By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).


Catered to students of : Secondary 3 Express

Objective :
To help students realise how the setting, mood/atmosphere can influence the overall meaning evoked by the text. Students should also be able to identify the means and literary techniques by which the writer creates a particular mood or atmosphere in the poem. Students will also realise that tone is often closely linked to mood/atmosphere and thus must be able to distinguish between the two components, where tone refers to the voice of the persona, which contributes to the mood of the poem.

I chose this poem as it is simple, does not have much complicated words/diction, is easily comprehensible and quite straight-forward, hence not intimidating students. Moreover, there is much to comment on setting, with the large use of imagery of nature.
Before looking into at poem, I would write the title of the poem on the board and ask students to guess what the poem is about, follwing which I would hand out the poem. This is to remind students that the title of the poem is not to be ignored and that it often has much significance to it, in this case, giving us a sense of the overall mood of the poem. Like daffodils, this poem indeed has a cheery and light-hearted tone to it, as it represents spring and the happiness of life.

I would then play a reading of the poem from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK9UWpYuZiE, or the teacher could do a reading of the poem to the class.

The scaffolding questions could be:

1) What kind of place do you think the persona is in? Would you like to be there?

This question aids in elliciting responses for students, especially of low-mid ability, as it will help them to voice out their thoughts and to form a visual picture that the poem portrays.

2) What feelings does this poem evoke in you? Why or How?

Students are to not merely state their emotions which are evoked, such as "This poem makes me feel happy", but to substantiate their opinions with evidence from the text.


3)What is the mood/atmosphere like in the poem? Which literary devices help evoke the mood/atmosphere in the poem?

At their level (Secondary 3), students should be able to identify literary devices of language such as diction/imagery/metaphors/use of alliteration and how these devices being out the mood/atmosphere in the poem. For instance, the title itself and the main subject in the poem being daffodils, has connotations of nature and the beauty and simplicity of life and thus evokes a cheery and light-hearted mood/atmosphere of liveliness.

4 )What is the tone of the persona? How is this portrayed in the poem?

Students often have problems identifying the right tone of the persona in the poem and must be guided through the possible adjectives they can use and how they must always substantiate their claims with evidence from the poem itself. Moreover, it can be emphasised how the tone of the persona often contributes to the mood of the poem.