Please exlain these lines these lines are from poem daffodils:A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
Answers
This poem is of a different time from ours, when “gay” meant only “bright and pleasant, promoting a feeling of cheer,” and “jocund” meant “full of high-spirited merriment.”
It means that the poet felt that he could not help himself but to be cheerful, merry, and high-spirited in the presence of the ten thousand daffodils that were dancing in the breeze before him.
Answer:
"A poet could not but be gay"
He might be remarking that the daffodils would make for a brilliant subject for poetry (Wordsworth was a poet that wrote quite frequently about nature and most definitely admired mother nature's work).
However, the more likely meaning is that William Wordsworth is happy seeing the sight of the daffodils (as gay means happy).
"In such a jocund company"
The poet might be trying to establish how lonely he is here with the daffodils yet feels such at company. It refers to how the daffodils are enough companionship for him. (‘jocund’ means ‘amusing’ or ‘joking’). A man who is alone will feel that flowers are “jocund” company.
This is also established earlier in the play where he felt that the golden daffodils were "A host" (also note that golden would refer to something of value (this could suggest that he valued their company or that he admires their collective beauty)
This shows that the daffodils, to him, were welcoming him, like a host.
Explanation:
Hope this helped :)