Worth His Words
Wow, William Wordsworth was born 250 years ago today. Has there ever been a better name for a poet? He was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 to 1850. How do you apply for that job?
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.
posted by LAGuy @ 7:39 AM
2 Comments:
Don't know if you read comments on older posts, but I just saw this.
Peter Gabriel took this poem as his starting place when he wrote the lyrics for "The Colony of Slippermen" on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Of course, he assumed his audience would recognize the reference, but when I first discovered the album, I didn't notice it at all. Years later when I came across the Wordsworth poem, I said "Wow!"
I wandered lonely as a cloud,
Till I came upon this dirty street.
I've never seen a stranger crowd;
Slubberdegullions on squeaky feet,
Continually pacing,
With nonchalant embracing,
Each orifice disgracing
And one facing me moves to say "hellay".
I would guess Wordsworth's poem is more famous than "The Colony Of Slippermen."
On the other hand, these days you can never be sure of an audience getting any reference more than 20 years old.
By the way, I generally look out for comments as long as they're still on the scroll.
Post a Comment
<< Home