水仙花何在？

英国诗里，William Wordsworth有一首名诗，叫The Daffodils(水仙花）。

作者生于1770年4月7日。这首诗，第一句就是：I wandered lonely as a cloud（徐徐独行若浮云）。据说，作者和妹妹 Dorothy 于1802年，在英格兰西北部的Cumbria (坎布里亚郡）的 Glencoyne Park 漫步，看到了水仙花遍野，才写下了这首名诗。

 这首名诗，中学生会读到，所以人人毕业后，大概都会记得第一句。电视上，有时候也会听到搞笑艺人拿这第一句诗来开玩笑。

这一首诗，让英国西北的湖区(The Lake Disctrict)，在人的心头不朽。

可是，由于今年的严冬，北方的水仙花迟迟不来。坎布里亚郡的旅游局，请大家共同寻找水仙花的行踪。若发现水仙花开，要“推特”(tweet) 宣传出去。

1843年，William Wordsworth 在74岁时，还受封为桂冠诗人 (Poet Laureate)，专为王室写诗。

英国现任的桂冠诗人是 Carol Ann Duffy，在英国三百多年来的桂冠诗人历史上，她是唯一的女性。她去年五月受聘时，她是女同性恋者的这个背景，让媒体热闹了一阵。桂冠诗人的任期是十年，年薪是£5,750。

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
THE DAFFODILS 水仙花

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
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.