Easter, Daffodils, a Poet and a Church

Daffodils have long been associated with the coming of Spring and a symbol of Easter.

Maybe because they usher in new life to the year, means that they have attracted a little romancing to their presence….. indeed there is one very famous poem that most of us can recite, well  at least one of its lines…. lines always associated with Spring and Easter.  The first line of the first verse go something like this….

” I wandered lonely as a Cloud”

and the last line of the same verse is even more famous and often quoted

” “” A  host of Golden Daffodils”

Those lines were penned by the Lake District, Poet William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850).  A Prolific writer and lover of the Cumberland landscape in which he lived. An association with Coleridge lead to the group of so called Romantic Poets being recognised.

Born in Cockermouth  in the north east of Cumberland.  Then educated at Hawkshead Grammar School, Wordsworth went onto a spend great deal of his adult life in Grasmere and adjacent Rydal.  Dove Cottage, Grasmere was one of his homes, today it is part of the Wordsworth Museum.

Wordsworth was well travelled, but it was Cumberland and his Lake District that would be his main love.  Grasmere and adjacent Rydal was his life base.  The Church of St. Oswald in the centre of Grasmere was one of his places of worship,  after his death in his last home of Rydal Mount,   St. Oswald’s also became his final resting place.

Wordsworth left a very large legacy of  written work and a visit to the Wordsworth Museum  has a unique and comprehensive library and illustrations of his far reaching life and work, well worth a visit.

Those two line of “Wandering“ may be the most well known in poetry, but also a powerful tribute to Daffodils….  but for me the last line of the entire poem is the most powerful and appropriate for Easter and the new Spring that is slowly bursting about us…..

” and then my heart with pleasure fills

a Dances with the Daffodils “

I hope you can enjoy a restful, peaceful Easter and lookforward to a colourful Spring….

and as always…..

Please Remember ….

Stay Safe …. Be Kind…. Look After Each Other

*PS.  I refer to Cumberland… today that is known as Cumbria after it merged with Westmoreland.  I much prefer the old county names

9th April

(C) David Oakes 2023