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 margent of a Bay:
Ten thousand I saw 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.

• Emily Dickinson