the prelude*

• who is the author of The Prelude?

  william wordsworth
• what is the significance of the quote “the horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge” ?


  repetition, it emphasises that he has no words to describe the beauty before him reinforces the size of the mountain.
• "moved slowly through the mind by day, and were a trouble to my dreams" what does this tell the reader?


  this journey had a prolonged effect on him, dominates his thoughts night and day and he is changed from the innocent, confident person he once was.
• "And measured motion like a living thing strode after me" what is the significance of this?


  (similie, alliteration, personification) contrast: nature is now in control, the mountain is an awakened beast.
• "of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows, proud of his skill" what is the significance of this?


  idyllic language/light imagery, arrogance; he feels in charge of nature.
• what is romanticism?

  appreciating the beauty of nature.
• what are most of Wordsworth's poems about?

  humanity's relationship with nature, inspired by the English Lake District. One of the first writers labelled as romantic.
• how does the narrator change throughout the poem?

  spiritual growth, he comes to terms with who he is, and his place in nature and the world.
• who is the narrator of The Prelude?

  Wordsworth as a boy.
• what is the structure of The Prelude?

  written in blank verse (no rhyme) but written in iambic pentameter.
• what is the tone of The Prelude?

  personal and anecdotal
• what is the function of The Prelude?

  romanticism, humans are inferior to nature.