The poem commonly called by its first line “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” or just “Daffodils” (as Wordsworth himself occasionally referred to it) is immortalized on many a refrigerator magnet and coffee mug (both available, for example, from the Wordsworth Trust’s gift shop). Daffodils are now part of the iconography of the Wordsworth brand. Because these flowers bloom early, they symbolize rebirth or simply herald the joyful promise of spring and the close of winter. Daffodils, therefore, suit the image of Wordsworth as a nature poet, although he includes descriptions of other flowers in his poetry. From the poem’s first publication, it was ridiculed as downright silly; to poet Anna Seward, for example, the poem produced “astonishment and disgust” (Woof 250). Even Coleridge used it as an example of defect in Wordsworth’s poetry (Biographia...
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Citation: Robinson, Daniel. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34633, accessed 09 June 2026.]
