Critical Analysis of “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “The Facebook Sonnet”
Light and happy or dark and lonely, both “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and “The Facebook Sonnet” are similar in that both of their themes describe solitude. Still, William Wordsworth and Sherman Alexie use opposite ideas to take this concept in different lights. While Wordsworth describes an enjoyable evening walking through a meadow and speaks of his contentment thinking of this day when he is alone, Alexie describes forlorn wishful nature of an average Joe reminiscing on his past through social media. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the meaning of both works using the poets’ images and symbols, and will compare how each poet used the notion of …show more content…

Studies recently have been made about how Facebook and other social media sites have made society miserable and unsatisfied as a whole; Alexie is simply reiterating this idea and bringing it to the attention of his readers. After studying more of Alexie’s work, it is clear to me that he takes the present as a gift meant to be spent on things and people he loves. Facebook, though initially intended to bring people together, has distance real-life relationships, and that’s exactly what Alexie is trying to bring to the attention of the people. This is a prime example of how technology is hurting society, with more people using Facebook as a prime source of communication, society is becoming more antisocial in actuality and personal images are being twisted to misrepresent who one actually is.
In light of the fact these poems have very different meanings; the similarity is not very hard to miss. Both these poems have the theme of one on their own, whether it is outdoors or indoors, and comparing the two helps to distinguish between the fine line of being alone and being lonely and the authors use of imagery help reveal the meaning behind each poem.

Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. "The Facebook Sonnet." The New Yorker. N.p., 16 May 2011. Web. 11 Nov.
2013. .
Wordsworth, William. “I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.” Poetry X.