Summer entered the Pacific Northwest yesterday, specifically the Portland, OR area, ablaze in sunlight and blue sky. Of course, lest we’d forget our geographic location, the occasional cloud covered the sun. Yet, that did nothing to deter the soul from dancing.
In reading yesterday, I came across a poem by William Wordsworth that spoke to how I felt with summer outside my doorway and what memories of its gala arrival would mean for me months down the road.
I share with you here, 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
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.
(emphasis added)
Featured Image Attribution: Jaesung An from Pixabay
Oh yes, “the bliss of solitude”, Sherrey. I think we’ve all been coerced to accept and embrace solitude in the throes of this pandemic. And what a gift it has been. Woodsworth poem is perfect and the image of those daffodils wavering in the breeze—priceless..Thank you for this timely reminder.
It is so wonderful when those we care about can accept the solitude of the pandemic as a gift as you have. So many are wearing themselves out with fretting over minutiae they can’t control. Kathy, thanks for being you and being my friend!
Love this! Sharing… <3 Happy Summer, Sherrey! xo
So glad you enjoyed. And thanks for sharing, Bette! Happy summer to you as well.
Gerry often quotes this poem. We enjoyed a day of summer here in BC too. Back to clouds now. The weather forecasters keep teasing us with summer-like forecasts but they’ve yet to come to any real fruition. It’s discouraging on top of everything else.
Linda, how coincidental that I should come across a poem Gerry often quotes? I like how you carefully mention that you enjoyed “a day of summer” too. It’s cloudy here this morning, and I’m trying to decide if it’s the clouds leaving me with a heavy feeling or the times we live in. Everything seems discouraging. I’m bored and can’t hit on something to delve into creatively. Thanks for coming by!
Lovely poem. So happy that summer is here, even if it’s an odd one with the virus. At least we can still go for walks, and you’re in a lovely geographical area to do that. I have family in Washington state. I always love going for long walks when I visit there. Soooo pretty!
Yes, I’m glad summer is here although it’s not the kind of summer any of us want. Like you mention, we can still go for walks and that’s important for me. I’m in recovery mode from a major spinal fusion about 18 months ago. Walking is the best exercise for fusing bones, or so I’m told! And I love where we live. I grew up in TN, and we moved here in 1983. I’ve never looked back. My husband grew up in Washington State in the central valley. Hope you’re having a good week and look forward to enjoying your visits here.
That’s an intense surgery, no doubt. Glad you’re on the mending road.
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