extract from the prelude

• iambic pentameter


  reflects rhythm of native solace

  safety that wordsworth feels at the start of the poem
• went heaving through the water like swan


  heaving- human power takes effort

  he views his boat as an animal that belongs

  simile- speaker regards himself as part of the landscape not as an intuition on this natural scene

  tone shifts after and speaker starts to fear nature
• a huge peak, black and huge


  loss of eloquence

  intimidating force of nature renders him speechless- negative semantic field
• no familiar shapes

  shapes of imagination

  realisation of the destructive power of nature has exceeds his knowledge and understanding

  juxtaposition between negatives and positives feelings nature can inspire
• blank verse


  lack of rhyme reflects unpredictable character of nature

  nature cannot be controlled or put into a fixed order
• context


  written by William Wordsworth 1770-1850

  he was born in Cumberland, had a troubled relationship with his dad

  spent lots of time outside to escape his problems

  his wife published his poem three months after his death

  viewed as an epic poem because of its length

  romantic poem- natural world, mind over industry