As you read this lovely poem by William Wordsworth, imagine yourself as the narrator. Read it slowly and let it take you on a gentle journey. Let yourself be carried off to this special place for a few moments. Allow it to bring you a sense of beauty, peace and ease. Let it be a reminder of renewal, abundance, growth and the resilience and rhythm of nature. And after you’ve read it, read it a second (or third time), you’ll discover more with each reading. Then close your eyes, and ‘wander’ (in wonder) again as the images fill your mind.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as 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.