Question

According to this excerpt from "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth, what does the speaker do when he is in a reflective mood?

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did 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 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.



He gets melancholy about his life situation.



He thinks of the scene described in the poem.



He reads to escape from the din of city life.



He writes as a release from his worries and fears.

Answer 1

He thinks of the scene described in the poem.

In the poem he uses the words vacant, pensive, solitude to indicate that he is in a reflective mood. When this happens he says that "they flash upon that inward eye". The pronoun they is referring to the scene with the daffodils. This scene allows him to feel happy and gay because he is "in such a jocund company". This poem has a positive tone to it. Any of the answers addressing a negative tone should automatically be eliminated.

Answer 2

Answer:

He thinks of the scene described in the poem.

Explanation:

To be pensive is to be "engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought". The speaker is on his couch lost in thoughts

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

That way, he can forget about the rest, since what he thinks about will eventually make him happy:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company