The Brenda Lee song "It's A Marshmallow World" provides an interesting contrast to William Wordsworth's classic poem "I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud." On the assumption that song lyrics are in essence a form of poetry, the song and the poem can be compared and contrasted to find common elements and distinctive differences.
"It's A Marshmallow World" is on the surface just a bit of fluff(a happy song with little meaning. However, it does manifest many of the same elements and concepts as the poem. One of these is personification. The song refers to the marshmallow clouds as being "friendly" and talks about "the arms of the ever-green-trees" ("It's A Marshmallow World"). It states that the sun "is shining so your nose won't freeze," implying benevolence on the part of the sun ("It's A Marshmallow World"). In this song, the entire "marshmallow world" seems to be alive and friendly, peopled with personified elements of nature whose purpose is to be welcoming and comforting to young lovers. The song's tone is happy and light, conveying delight in the beauty of the marshmallow world, which is depicted as an edible confection. The marshmallow world, pumpkin-like sun, sugar date, and "yummy yummy world" all connote food that is sweet and delicious. The theme of the song is that "the world is the snowball," and its message is that the snowball is "just for our soul/ So get up and roll it along," intimating that everything in the world exists to promote happiness but that it is up to the individuals to make that happiness come about ("It's A Marshmallow World").
In Wordsworth's poem, the element of personification is also used to create a happy and welcoming world. The daffodils are described as "tossing their heads in sprightly dance," as being "such a jocund company," and as outdoing the waves "in glee," suggesting a similar happy tone as in the song. Wordsworth's world in the poem is similarly friendly an...