prelude

• who was William Wordsworth

  • romantic poet
  • in favour of overthrowing establishments
• how does wordsworth personify nature? (Topic scentence)

  • Wordsworth characterises nature as a concious entity in order to quanify its power in comparison to men
• 'led by her'

  • female personifacation of nature - femininity is often associated with gentleness and beauty, conveying his view of nature to be positive at first
  • He is lulled into a false sense of security and trust due to natures beauty and elegence
  • this juxtaposes with 'grim shape' as the poem progresses, showing his fear for the magnitude of nature shifts
• 'cuts through the water like a swan'

  • 'like a swan' - simile, graceful, smooth and elegant
  • shows the boys false sense of control over nature as he rows
  • shows his confidence over nature as he is unaware of what happens next , showing natures dominance over man and ability to draw man in
• 'huge peak, black and huge'

  • sense of fear and venerability
  • repetition of 'huge' emphasises the utter fear the man feels showing the impact and power of nature to be something terrifying
• 'upreared its head, I struck and struck again'

  • 'upreared' agressive verb - juxtaposes with graceful language showing how fast nature has switched up on him
  • personifies the mountain to present it to be agressive and have intentions to scare the man
  • 'struck and struck' depicts the new found struggle the man is facing now that he has been exposed to the true power of nature.