The Prelude by Wordsworth

The Prelude by Wordsworth

1. The Prelude by Wordsworth

2. About the poet William Wordsworth was a Romantic poet Romantic poets focused on nature and human emotion

3. What is the poem about? The poem is about the speaker finding a boat and taking it out on the lake The speaker is happy, self-assured and admires the beautiful scene The speaker sees a mountain on the horizon and becomes afraid of its size and power. He turns the boat around and goes home – but his views have changed.

4. Structure Uses the form of an epic poem – long pieces of writing about exciting action-packed heroic events – but here Wordsworth is describing something more ordinary Free verse – Often used in epic poems about mighty subjects but here describes a personal journey Uses iambic pentameter Uses first person narrative – makes it sound more personal and we hear the speaker’s thoughts and feelings Enjambment – Overflow of powerful feelings

5. St1 One summer evening (led by her) I found A little boat tied to a willow tree Within a rocky cove, its usual home. Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on; Personification of nature “her” Boat also personified as “her” – Image of the boat being trapped Happy rural image It seems familiar to him Narrator appears confident Oxymoron – Narrator’s guilt Narrator feels like he is doing something wrong. This is the first clue that something is wrong

6. St2 Leaving behind her still, on either side. Small circles glittering idly in the moon, Until they melted all into one track Of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows, Proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point With an unswerving line, I fixed my view Upon the summit of a craggy ridge, Nature, idea of leaving it behind Metaphor – Natural, positive image of the moon “glittering” “sparkling” “melting” – visual imagery Narrator seems arrogant here. He won’t feel like this later Highest point of a mountain – Or the point or time at which something is at its most successful or intense – perhaps narrator feels success / proud of stealing the boat and viewing these natural sights

7. The horizon's utmost boundary; far above Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky. She was an elfin pinnace ; lustily I dipped my oars into the silent lake, And, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat Went heaving through the water like a swan; When, from behind that craggy steep till then The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge, Emptiness contrasts with his description of the horizon on line 22. The appearance of the mountain is more shocking Metaphor comparing the boat to a fairy boat – makes it seem magical and out of this world The peace of nature Simile – Sounds graceful and confident, in control – This simile contrasts with the next line: The volta

8. When, from behind that craggy steep till then The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge, As if with voluntary power instinct, Upreared its head. A mountain appears on the horizon – the language changes now and becomes darker and more threatening The Volta: Turning point of the poem. Change in tone. The simple word is emphasised by being at the start of the line and by the use of the caesura

9. Upreared its head. I struck and struck again, And growing still in stature the grim shape Towered up between me and the stars, and still, For so it seemed, with purpose of its own And measured motion like a living thing, Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned, And through the silent water stole my way Back to the covert of the willow tree; There in her mooring-place I left my bark, - The mountain is personified as an ugly image. It contrasts with the earlier images of the boat “swan” As he rows away from the mountain, more of it comes into view. The mountain is getting bigger and starts to sound like a nightmare. Bad, ugly. Negative view of the mountain Sounds intimidating and powerful. The sibilance creates a sinister mood. Simile – Mountain seems alive and calm and in control wheras narrator seems scared “trembling” He feels guilty and wants to hide away.

10. And through the meadows homeward went, in grave And serious mood; but after I had seen That spectacle, for many days, my brain Worked with a dim and undetermined sense Of unknown modes of being; o'er my thoughts There hung a darkness, call it solitude Or blank desertion. No familiar shapes Remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields; But huge and mighty forms, that do not live Like living men, moved slowly through the mind By day, and were a trouble to my dreams. This event has a big impact on him – “grave” is negative and means serious. Reminds him of his own mortality in the face of nature Lasting impact of the event Doesn’t understand what has seen, can’t really describe it Metaphor – The narrator is left feeling alone and unsettled Repetition of no – Shows the contrast with how he feels now 

11. No familiar shapes Remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields; But huge and mighty forms, that do not live Like living men, moved slowly through the mind By day, and were a trouble to my dreams. Narrator no longer thinks nature is beautiful, he has learnt that it is more important/powerful than that. Simile – Nature is described as powerful and is compared to human beings. Someone who can influence our lives. Finishes with an unsettling image. Contrasts with the mood and tone at the beginning of the poem.

12. Imagery Wordsworth effectively describes the night-time atmosphere with his choice of images “Small circles glittering idly in the moon, Until they melted all into one track Of sparkling light”

13. Imagery But gentle moonlight becomes darkness as the poet-narrator’s state of mind becomes troubled by the end of the extract: “…o’er my thought There hung a darkness, call it solitude Or blank desertion. No familiar shapes Remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields.” This is imagery that could be associated with gothic (sinister or grotesque) tales, nightmares or even horror.

14. Imagery Wordsworth continues with this imagery “But huge and mighty forms, that do not live Like living men, moved slowly through the mind By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.” Personification is also used by Wordsworth: he refers to the boat as “her” (which is quite common in literature from that historic period) and the mountain peak comes alive and chases him: “…a huge peak, black and huge, As if with voluntary power instinct, Upreared its head… For so it seemed, with purpose of its own And measured motion like a living thing, Strode after me.”

15. Themes Nature: Humanity is part of nature and sometimes we can be made to feel very small and insignificant by the natural world. Loneliness: Wordsworth is often on his own throughout The Prelude and this is important to him. He can think more clearly and is more affected by events and places as a result. The night: The poem seems to suggest that you can sometimes experience feelings and events more clearly at night, perhaps due to loneliness.