Lonely Clouds or all Good Friends

¨¨l wander lonely as a cloud..... written by William Wordsworth.

Many people believe William Wordsworth to be one of the greatest of English poets..

In his lifetime, he was known as an English Romantic poet who lived at the end of the 18th Century and the beginning of the 19th Century. (died in 1850)

l was given books as presents from such an early age that it is not surprising that l came across serious poetry while still quite young. Still young enough to wonder why Wordsworth would consider a cloud to be lonely. Surely he knew clouds were merely water- vapour . How could they have human feelings of lonelyness?

l had to grow a little older to appreciate the meaning of poetic license.

l knew there were different types of clouds. Dark storm clouds looming before the rain.

Pretty fluffly clouds, Whispy, clouds that looked as though an artists paintbrush had just been gently dragged across a blue canvas.

l loved Summer clouds, the quick moving ones that seem to have a mind of their own. Have you noticed how a cloud can move across the sky towards another cloud and they merge into one?, sometimes even as other clouds are coming along until they form one enormous white cloud, like a group of friends who´ve walked towards eachother and now are in a friendly huddle having a chat......

Soon the cloud formation wll change, they separate and drift along on their own way, just like friends saying áu revoir´ see you next time.

l suppose my childish imagination of these friendly clouds was another reason that l didn´t envisage clouds as being lonely.

However, how could l argue with a great poet, such as Wordsworth. ? A man who lived hundreds of years ago yet still is talked about and widely read all over the world.Not to mention being loved by millions of people.

It has been said that most poets of Wordsworths´time, wrote with elegant, stylish words. Clever poetry. Wordsworth, however decided to write in a more´plain word´way. Using words that in his era were part of everyday speech.

It is likely that he wrote simply about his surroundings. The beautiful English countryside.(He went to school in a town in The Lake District. Oddly enough where l live now)

So his surroundings and therefore his poetry were usually about the beauty of mountains, or lakes, or rivers,or fields. All sorts of natural things that many people take for granted, yet many city dwellers actually never experience first hand.

I suppose in the city, even looking up at the blue sky would not bring about the feelings l had as a little girl growing up in Wales (A most beautiful part of Britain),when l watched the friendly clouds floating towards each other for a group chat, then to break apart again and many clouds floating off in their different directions.

This type of sky l find beautiful, but even as an adult l still have uneasy feelings when the sky becomes gloomy and dark clouds form as a warning of an oncoming storm. Yet we need them all, for we need the rain.

Wordsworth, strangely enough finished his poem ´l wandered lonely as a cloud´ with words describing how he saw a host of golden daffodils, which just happens to be the national flower of Wales.