Listen to a famous poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, written by William Wordsworth and performed by Noma Dumezweni.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
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.
What about you?
- Do you have a favourite poem that you could share with us?
- What's it called?
- Who wrote it?
- What's it about?
Tell us in the comments!
My favorite poem is a poem in Portuguese. Canção do Excílio by Gonçalves Dias.
It talks about how the author misses Brazil in its exile, and how everything is better there. I brought the poem and it's translation.
Canção do exílio
The Song of Exile
Minha terra tem palmeiras
Onde canta o Sabiá,
As aves, que aqui gorjeiam,
Não gorjeiam como lá.
My homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air;
no bird here can sing as well
as the birds sing over there.
Nosso céu tem mais estrelas,
Nossas várzeas têm mais flores,
Nossos bosques têm mais vida,
Nossa vida mais amores.
We have fields more full of flowers
and a starrier sky above,
we have woods more full of life
and a life more full of love.
Em cismar, sozinho, à noite,
Mais prazer encontro eu lá;
Minha terra tem palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá.
Lonely night-time meditations
please me more when I am there;
my homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air.
Minha terra tem primores,
Que tais não encontro eu cá;
Em cismar – sozinho, à noite –
Mais prazer encontro eu lá;
Minha terra tem palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá.
Such delights as my land offers
Are not found here nor elsewhere;
lonely night-time meditations
please me more when I am there;
My homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air.
Não permita Deus que eu morra,
Sem que eu volte para lá;
Sem que desfrute os primores
Que não encontro por cá;
Sem qu’inda aviste as palmeiras,
Onde canta o Sabiá.
Don’t allow me, God, to die
without getting back to where
I belong, without enjoying
the delights found only there,
without seeing all those palm-trees,
hearing thrush-songs fill the air.
“Ho sceso dandoti il braccio almeno un milione di scale”
Eugenio Montale
Montale’s wife was dead and he described their life together in a few lines but very intense and representative. The most beautiful sad love poem that I have read.
I don´t like poems anymore and i don´t like to read it too.