Photo Credits: By JoJan - Self-photographed, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41869626
In 1804 Britain lived in constant fear of invasion. British citizens during this time believed that Napoleon could cross the Channel at any moment, and because of this the country was anxiously preparing for war. At the same time Romantic Era poets, like William Wordsworth, were turning to nature to find small moments of joy in order to ground themselves in the midst of the uncertainty around them. In his poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," Wordsworth describes a moment when he feels disconnected from the world around him. When he comes across the field of daffodils, they remind him that the world still contains beauty and light even when he feels lonely. By the end of the poem, when Wordsworth is lounging on his couch, he is able to think back to the memory of the daffodils and the nature scene from the beginning of the poem proving that joy isn't random. Instead it is something that you can keep safe in your memories and return to it when you need a reminder of the goodness in the world.