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| Vincent Willem van Gogh, Dutch, 1853 ‑ 1890. Oil on canvas, 19 1/2 x 39 1/4 inches (49.5 x 99.7 cm). Cincinnati Art Museum, Bequest of Mary E. Johnston | |
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| My first daffodil this year. |
Daffodils are starting to blossom in my part of the world, and always remind me of Wordsworth's famous poem, 'Daffodils,' also called, 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.' It is the narrative of an introspective poet taking a countryside hike and as he walks over a slight hill, encounters the serendipity of thousands of daffodils.
Here is a thoughtful piece of Impressionistic music:
Debussy - Reverie
Vincent illustrates a similar encounter with a couple. Love the warmth of Van Gogh.
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.
Check out the excellent resource that is the Poetry Foundation-- and maybe introduce a 'Poem of the Week,' which is the quickest way to get to the top Bloom's Taxonomy.
