A Birthday
The poet of renunciation wrote one great burst of joy. “A Birthday” overflows with similes, then demands a jewelled throne — and its imagery is so sacred that the love who “is come” may be earthly, divine, or both.
Theme
joy
4 poems
joy
Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud)
William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807), better known as “Daffodils” — full text plus summary, background, analysis of themes, form notes, notable lines, and a glossary of older terms.
L’Allegro (Selected Excerpts)
Milton’s ode to mirth celebrates festivity as a disciplined joy — pastoral song and theater shaping perception and virtue.
I Hear America Singing
An anthem of labor and individuality, “I Hear America Singing” gathers many voices into one democratic chorus.