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Wednesday 18 March 2009

Daffodils

The parks, the banks of the Thames, everywhere there are green spaces there are thousands of daffodils.

The botanic name for these flowers is Narcissus. In Greek mythology the young Narcissus was so obsessed with his own reflection in the water he either fell in and drowned or died of starvation sitting there. Choose your version. Either way this is the flower that sprang up where he died.
Another story is the flower is named after its narcotic properties.
As I was wandering around taking pictures of daffodils I drove my walking companion nuts trying to remember the words to Wordsworth's poem.
Ha now you're trying to remember aren't you. I'll save you the angst. here it is:

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 leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but 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.

17 comments:

Rob said...

thank you for this poem reminder. It has been years, no, eons.

Cheryl G. said...

Both, the picture and the poem is beautiful! We still have so much snow. I feel the same ways about seeing my daffodils, tulips and wild mountain flowers!

Anna said...

Thank you for the touch of Spring! I'm impressed you even tried to remember the words to the poem. I think I read it years ago and would never have remotely thought of it!

Victor said...

Nice post. Cheers!

Hilda said...

I learned the Narcissus myth back in grade school and knew about the flowers, but I never knew they were daffodils! LOL. Learn something new everyday!

And to answer your question on my blog: The Claretian Missionaries are a Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St. Anthony Claret in Spain. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for three centuries and one effect is that most Filipinos are Roman Catholic, or Christian, at least.

Babzy.B said...

Thanks for the beautiful poem , thousands of daffodils , i'm impressed , i have just a few in my tiny garden :)Nice shot !

Anonymous said...

wow!

this really is
a very lovely shot, mo

the brilliance and vibrant color of 'the subject' in this monochrome and somewhat bleak setting is perfect in my eye -- beautiful! and easily as good as anything i've seen in a gallery -- nice framing, too

/t.

Anonymous said...

The poem I always try to remember each year is A.A. Milne.

She wore a yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour
"Winter is dead."

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Thanks for sharing the photo and poem! They are my favorite flower, one that brings back childhood memories of spring's beginning and winter's end.

London Belle said...

Daffodils are out in full force in London!!! Some have even managed to grow in my garden, which is quite a miracle because it is a big shared house in which no body does the gardening!

Maria Grazia said...

I read this poem to my students before Christmas. Maybe it wasn't the proper time of the year but they liked it, anyway. I also suggested to listen to a special reading of Wordsworth's "Daffodils" by ...
Jeremy Iron. Well,I can't compare, I know... Listen to him yourself!
http://www.learnonline.splinder.com/post/19211524
/ROMANTIC+POETRY

lunarossa said...

My favourite flower, my favourite poem. So beautiful. All the best. Ciao. A.

marley said...

Great spring photos today and Monday. Also great Shanghai photos. Also congrats on 400 post. Also happy belated birthday! I think thats everything I've missed.

Oh yeah, welcome home :)

Bert Johnston said...

A great picture, with the boat anchoring the daffodils (or do they anchor the boat?) I've loved the Wordworth poem for many years, but I also thank Joelle for the A. A. Milne poem, which I don't remember.

LoveANewIdea said...

Such a nice springtime post! You certainly are ahead of us for greenery...we still have snow on the ground here.

Julie ScottsdaleDailyPhoto.com said...

how nice to see daffodils and so much poetry to remind us of those who have experienced and enjoyed daffodils before us. I wish I was there walking the Thames and seeing these lovely flowers. And in answer to your question about the spa, it is a fabulous spa at the Fairmont. Actually we have lots of excellent spas in Scottsdale. We are so lucky to have so much around us to enjoy. we sometimes book spa days with friends and lounge at the pool, eat lunch by the pool, and end the day with treatments and champagne at the end of the day. this makes for a perfectly decadent day!

The Lone Beader® said...

This is really beautiful!! :D

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