A photograph of a small wave as it approaches the beach

Source: Waves at Rehoboth Beach (3), mazemet, Flickr

A painting of the star Vinea with a planet in the foreground

Source: Vinea, Peter Potrowl, Wikimedia

Test your understanding of rhyme, meter, and the graphic elements of verse by reading Wordsworth’s poem once more and answering the questions that follow.

A photograph of a small wave as it approaches the beach

Source: Waves at Rehoboth Beach (3), mazemet, Flickr

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
Outdid 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 to me the show 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.


An image of a piece of sheet music. Shown is a single stanza of a line.

Source: BPS14-3 1, 尖尖的鹿角, Wikimedia

An image of a shoe with the laces spelling ou the words “the poetry object.”

Source: 2012-poetry-object.png.860x860 q85 upscale, Timothyyagrey, Wikimedia

Now that you’ve learned to analyze rhyme, meter, and graphic elements in verse, read Charles Ghinga’s description of a poem. Do you recognize the rhyme scheme, end-stopped lines, and run-on lines? Do feel the rhythm (meter) and hear rhyme in his definition? Ghinga captures all we’ve discussed in this lesson in one short poem!

What’s A Poem?

A whisper,
a shout,
thoughts turned
inside out.

A laugh,
a sigh,
an echo
passing by.



A rhythm,
a rhyme,
a moment
caught in time.

A moon,
a star,
a glimpse
of who you are.