April Bloom Day: Dancing Daffodils

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.
----William Wordsworth

I've always loved this poem, and although I don't have a "host" of daffodils, they do fill my heart with pleasure, as Wordsworth says. I always liked Wordsworth's poems, but I've grown to love them even more the last few years. Wordsworth saw the divine in nature and felt that man was a better person by enjoying and contemplating nature. As a gardener, what more perfect inspiration could you ask for?

My spring bulbs are all late-flowering ones--still no tulips--but besides the daffodils, I do have some hyacinths blooming. As you can see (and will see later in the season), I am partial to purple.

Happy Garden Bloom Day to everyone!

By the next Bloom day, we will all probably be showing a riot of color.

( Footnote: Thank you to someone, I think it is Mary, who had a note in her profile about her camera always being in macromode. Out of curiosity, I actually read my camera manual before taking these pictures.)