Question

Reread lines 17–24 of "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud." What is the "wealth" that the speaker doesn’t initially appreciate when he sees the daffodils? Support your response with evidence from the text.

Answer 1

Answer:

The wealth that Wordsworth doesn't initially appreciate when he first saw the daffodils was the happiness and joy, the fond memories of that moment's happiness.

Explanation:

In his poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," William Wordsworth expresses his wonder and happiness that he got in encountering a field of daffodils. And in this joy from nature, the speaker realizes that this encounter with the flowers was a "wealth" that nothing can ever provide or replace.

In the third stanza, the speaker reveals how the experience of seeing the daffodils dance in the wind as a form of "wealth" that he didn't realize had been given to him. He admits "I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought". It was only later, when lying on his couch, that he realized how the happiness and joy he felt at that moment was a wealth much more valuable than anything else.

He concludes, "They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills" .