Daffodils

In 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads. In 1800, a second edition of the volume appeared with an expanded introductory section titled “Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” which was written by Wordsworth. This preface soon became an outline for a new wave of poetry called Romanticism. One important idea that Wordsworth expounded upon was the idea that poetry should be driven by “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Wordsworth, William. “Preface to Lyrical Ballads.” Famous Prefaces. The Harvard Classics, 1909-14). This emotion should be “recollected in tranquility” and “contemplated” until a “kindred [reaction] to that which was before the subject of contemplation […] does itself actually exist in the mind” (“Preface”). “Daffodils” is a thorough example of this idea. The image of the daffodils that the speaker envisions when lonely becomes, during contemplation, a source of “wealth” (Line 18) to be drawn upon when feeling low.

Other important ideas regarding Romanticism laid out in the “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” include the following: Poetic form should be unforced but can also be experimental; nature encourages understanding of self and inspires communion; elements of the supernatural, folklore, and magic are beautiful; poetic language and experience should be commonplace; and there are human limits that one can strive to move beyond.