The Prelude

• "distant hills...sent an alien sound'

  • sibilance reflects how nature is echoing the children's sound back at them
  • strangeness, unfamiliarity
  • sounds of nature are different to the familiar sounds of the people - 'tinkled' and 'alien' show how the speaker admires nature because its so different to humanity
  • separation between people and their surroundings - "din' from humans contract with the 'alien sounds'
• " of melancholy, not unnoticed"

  • enjambment places emphasis on 'melancholy' which highlights a contrast with the narrator's feelings earlier in the poem - nostalgia
  • multiple caesurae slow down the pace and make these lines more reflective - people have a changing relationship with their environment
  • double negative suggets that humans do not notice the sounds of nature and don't fully understand them
  • humans can perceive nature and be in awe of it but hints they still struggle to understand it fully
• "through the twilight blaz'd"

  • the bright lights in the cottage echo the setting sun, creating a sense of light and warmth
  • contrasts with 'frosty season' at the start of the poem, suggesting that nature and home are incompatible
  • warmth reflects Wordsworth's warm feelings when looking back on their childhood
• context

  • William Wordsworth was one of the first and most influential of the Romantic era
  • The Prelude is nostalgic in its thoughts about his childhood and the intense feelings of delight he experienced when he was walked or, as a child, played in the countryside
• structure

  • as a child the narrator was more interested in playing with his friends then in appreciating nature
  • towards the end of the excerpt there is a change in focus and the adult narrator considers nature more closely
  • suggest that growing up involved becoming more conscious of what's around you
  • has a Volta where the shift focuses to nature
  • first-person voice disappears towards the end reflecting how the speaker is immersed in nature