Poetry Friday the second

Welcome to our second Poetry Friday. Every Friday of this month, in honor of National Poetry Month, a staff member will choose a poem that is a particular favorite. This week we present a selection from Leslie. Also, don’t forget that we are having a friendly competition this month where you can submit your own poems. Click here to learn all the details

I had to memorize this poem as a young schoolgirl and have loved it ever since. I think of it every year at Spring time when the daffodils bloom – right now! It is the perfect length for memorization: not too long and not too short. Challenge yourself and see if you can memorize it and then impress your friends and relatives.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud 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.

For the more aural poem enthusiast, enjoy this reading by a celebrated poem enthusiast.

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.