I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

 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: 10
 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, 20
 They flash upon that inward eye
  Which is the bliss of solitude;
 And then my heart with pleasure fills,
 And dances with the daffodils.
 1804.