In 1998, David Joplin wrote the article “Wordsworth’s ‘I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.’ (William Wordsworth’s poem).” about the pun usage in the poem “I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud”. In the first paragraph, the author, having read many poetic works including that of Wordsworth, compares Wordsworth’s style with other writing styles; that Wordsworth is often very serious (as opposed to being playful) when wording his poems. But if one were to pay enough attention, they would notice subtle plays on words in Wordsworth’s poems. The author explores the possible deeper meanings of these puns when Wordsworth describes the field of flowers as a “host”. He says “The ‘Host’ is a ‘crowd’ of flowers… ‘a great company; a multitude; a large number.'” By focusing on the interpretation of a single pun in the poem, the author delves deeper into not only the mind of the poem’s narrator, but the mind of the author. As William Wordsworth is the topic of this blog, the article suits our needs and would even have been an appropriate post on this blog.

David Joplin and I agree that the daffodils are anthropomorphized in the author’s mind. The daffodils are described as “A crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.” By calling the flowers a crowd, he makes them seem more human like to Wordsworth. They are a crowd of beautiful, dancing flowers amongst other pieces of nature, such as the bay and the stars, that are also part of the dance. But they flowers are described by Wordsworth to be, not just part of the dance, they seem to be leading it. The host, as Joplin says, is the “agent that entertains… a master of ceremonies.” He says that the daffodils, as the hosts, treat Wordsworth to a show which effected him profoundly. I didn’t see it so much as a show, but as a social gathering Wordsworth has stumbled upon; in my mind, the daffodils put together a grand dance and invited the lake and the stars. Then when Wordsworth stumbled upon it, the daffodils, being gracious hosts, invite Wordsworth in to enjoy it. Then Joplin goes on to explain how the experience did not only move the author, but help him to attain an “elevated state of mind.” In the last stanza, Wordsworth tells of a time when he was unhappy and when he thought of the flowers again, he felt better. They “flash[ed] upon that inner eye” Joplin quotes, then says “Images of the daffodils open his ‘inward eye'”.  To Joplin, the eye can be a symbol, or a reference, to the Eye of God. The Eye of God is constellation that looks like exactly what one would think, a great eye in the sky. Joplin doesn’t explain much about the eye, just that it links our mind’s eyes to this one. They Eye of God is a perfect image of how God supposedly is always watching. One could imagine this really is God’s eye. If the mind’s eye is like this one, Joplin explains, “The ‘inward eye’ [is] to be seen as the spiritual center of the mind.” I agree because it is with the Christians’ “inward eye” that they picture and believe god is there. Also, with the inner eye, one can see anything, as if they were looking down upon it from space. By opening Wordsworth’s “inward eye” says Joplin, “The initiating ‘host’ therefore, comes through wordplay to occupy the role of initiating priest.” The priest is who many ask for advice when they don’t know where else to go, and they receive spiritual advice to help with their problems, many are inspired to pray to God on their own. The daffodils did this for Wordsworth. But Joplin continues to delve deeper into the meanings of the pun by taking it into even more religious context. He tells about how the experience “enables the poet to participate in a kind of spiritual beauty associated with nature.” He says that from this, we can see the host as the bread (body of Jesus) in communion at church as the daffodils take Wordsworth to a higher level of spiritual understandings. One thing I noticed about the poem that Joplin hadn’t was another pun on “host” being like the Heavenly Host which is an army of angels in heaven. The daffodils being a “host” of ten thousand to protect or uphold nature or the spiritual connection with nature.