To celebrate the 200th anniversary of its publication, and not incidentally, to bring more young people to visit England’s famed Lake District, the Cumbria Tourist Board has released a hip-hop video version of William Wordsworth’s poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Filmed on the banks of Lake Ullswater, which provided the original inspiration for the poem, the video features rapper MC Nuts as a giant red squirrel dancing among the nodding heads of daffodils.

So is Wordsworth turning in his grave? Or is this a valid attempt to revive his poem and bring it to people outside the classroom? After you’ve seen the video at one of these sites, come on back and tell us what you think by posting a comment to this post (just click “comments” below, right next to the date line):

• on YouTube: “mc nuts - william wordsworth rap”
• at the Cumbria/Lake District Tourist Board Web site: “Wordsworth... for the YouTube generation”

Media responses to the video:

• from The Guardian (UK):
  “Respect for Wordsworth 200 years on with daffodil rap,” by Martin Wainwright
• from The Telegraph (UK):
  “Squirrel rapper releases hip-hop Wordsworth,” by Matthew Moore

Related articles:
“Fragile” - Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65 is a poetry film single
(Since we posted this in July 2006, a large number of Shakespeare’s sonnets have appeared in YouTube video versions -- another example of his work’s continuing power to reach and inspire readers these many generations after his time.)