Poem: The Daffodils!

The very first Spring that Aaron, my spouse, and I were together, March, 2010, he took this picture of me. We were in a local park adjacent to the Potomac River that flows between Arlington, Virginia (where we live) and Washington, D.C., this nation’s capital city. In case anyone is wondering, a squirrel caught my attention just as Aaron flicked on the camera. The daffodil flowers had just begun blooming for that season.

Exactly one week later, the following Sunday, we returned to the same park as the full bedding of flowers had reached their ideal time to emerge. The remaining photographs with this posting were taken by my spouse during our second visit on that day.

The Daffodils

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

outdid the sparkling waves in glee!

A poet could not but be gay,

in such 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 Alex, my identical twin brother, and myself, having to memorize the above poem in both English and American Sign Language (ASL) was a difficult task, initially. (I should probably insert here that the two languages, English and ASL, are not always compatible!)

However, it did lead into an appreciation of poetry in general and for both of us a pursuit of poetry of our own composition. Funny how such school tasks sometimes lead to rewards later in lifetime.

As I shared this experience with Aaron, after we had gotten married, he immediately smiled and recalled how he favors me with his photography. It was a secondary school elective for him that now rewards him in his ability to capture images.

Naked hugs!

Roger/ReNude Pride