The Bliss of Solitude

I wrote my piano piece "Daffodils" in response to William Wordsworth's poem of the same name. Written in 1804, the poem was inspired by the poet's wandering and discovery of a field of daffodils by a lake. The vision was a gift that kept on giving.  As expressed in the final stanza, the memory of this event pleased and comforted him when restless or lonely or bored.  Such is the power of nature if one pauses, pays attention, and notices what's right there to see.  

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 margins of the 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 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.

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