The Prelude: Stealing The Boat

• The Prelude in a nutshell

  The Prelude is different to the other poems in the anthology as it is actually an extract taken from a much longer, autobiographical epic poem by William Wordsworth. The speaker in the poem remembers a night when he, as a young boy, steals a boat and rows out to the middle of a lake. At first this was exciting, but then the boy becomes scared of a huge mountain and rows back to shore. The image of the mountain troubles him for days. The overall idea is that Wordsworth is confident when he takes the boat out to the lake, but he changes when faced with the vast and imposing mountain, as it reminds him of the fragility of human life when compared to the lasting and absolute power of nature. The central theme in the poem, therefore, is the power of nature and self-realisation of the speaker’s own insignificance compared to nature
• The Prelude breakdown

  Lines 1-16

  “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;

  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,

  The horizon’s utmost boundary; far above

  Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.”
• Translation

  • The speaker is guided by nature one summer’s night to a rocky bay in which there is a boat tied to a willow tree
  • The speaker unties the boat and gets in, stealing it
  • He knows that he shouldn’t steal the boat, but it also brings him pleasure
  • Mountain echoes, like voices, accompany the movement of the boat
  • The oars leave circular ripples in the water that glitter in the moonlight, and merge into one in the wake of the boat
  • The speaker feels proud of his rowing skills as he fixes his gaze on a jagged mountain peak in order to row in a straight line
  • It is the farthest point on the horizon; above it there are only stars and sky
• Wordsworth’s intention

  • The poet refers to “her” which can be interpreted as Mother Nature
  • Nature can be seen as female in that it is responsible for the feminine task of creating, sustaining and nurturing life
  • By personifying nature, Wordsworth is contrasting the role of nature to the role of a human
  • Nature nurtures an entire planet, thus demonstrating its superior power 
  • It is clear that, at the beginning of the poem, the speaker has a peaceful view of, and relationship with, nature
  • The poet paints a tranquil and beautiful picture of nature and a boy’s ability to engage with it
• Lines 17-20

  “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;”

  Translation

  • The speaker describes his small boat as an “elfin pinnace”, like an elf’s boat
  • Even though the boat is small, the boy enthusiastically rows and controls his boat to cut through the water “like a swan”

  Wordsworth’s intention

  • These lines reveal that the boy believes in his ability to control nature
  • However, this is deception:
  • Nature is guiding him, so ultimately has control of the boy’s direction
• Lines 21-31

  “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. 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;”
• Translation

  • From behind the jagged peak on the horizon, an even bigger mountain appears, black and giant
  • This mountain seems to lift its head as though it were a living being
  • As the speaker rows, the mountain gets bigger and bigger, blocking out the stars
  • It seems to be alive and pursuing the speaker, who is trembling so much with fright his oars shake as well
  • The speaker turns the boat round and rows back to the safety of the willow tree
• Wordsworth’s intention

  • The poet hides the mountain like a beast hiding and waiting to pounce
  • The true power of nature is now revealed
  • Nature was working with the speaker at first, but now has turned against him
  • Wordsworth personifies the mountain as a beast with a “purpose of its own” 
  • This changes the encounter with nature from peaceful to suddenly something to be feared
  • The poet is revealing that nature is not always humankind’s friend
  • It can be mysterious and dangerous
  • Nature is powerful:
  • It can be beautiful and can be enjoyed, but we should treat it with respect as it can also be something to fear
• Lines 32-44

  There in her mooring-place I left my bark, - 

  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.”
• Translation

  • The speaker ties the boat back up, and walks home in a serious mood
  • After this experience, the speaker is troubled by thoughts of what “unknown modes of being” there are in the world; things he knows nothing about
  • His thoughts are clouded by a kind of darkness, like being alone or abandoned
  • He can no longer picture the beauty of nature
  • Now he can only picture giant, powerful shapes which move slowly through his mind during the day, and give him nightmares when he sleeps
• Wordsworth’s intention

  • These lines reveal the effect the experience has on the speaker
  • He becomes aware that he is not in control of nature
  • Indeed, there are natural things in the world that he has little knowledge of
  • This reinforces the message that nature is something to be feared as well as enjoyed
  • This also symbolises a turning point for the boy, as he passes from the innocent days of childhood to the reality of adulthood
  • He no longer feels safe, as he is now aware that he could encounter danger at every turn 
  • This can be interpreted to symbolise the transition from childhood to adulthood, as the speaker is never able to see the world through a child’s eyes again
• Form

  It is important to remember that this is a narrative poem that forms part of a much longer poem, but it has no traditional form. It has no stanzas, which reminds the reader that this is a single, contained incident within a much longer, autobiographical work. However, there are some comments you can make on why Wordsworth may have used blank verse and iambic pentameter in the context of the development of his own imagination and spiritual growth in response to his experience with the power of nature.
• Form: The Prelude

  
• Structure

  Although Wordsworth has structured the poem as a single stanza, to emphasise the overwhelming power of nature, the mood of the poem changes as it progresses to reflect the change that the speaker experiences in himself

  
• Structure: The Prelude

  
• Language

  Wordsworth further explores his spiritual journey when confronted with the power of nature and its supremacy through his use of language devices, and the conflict between childhood and adulthood

  
• Language: The prelude

  
• Language: The prelude

  
• Language: The prelude

  
• Context:

  • The Power of Nature
  • As the poem as a whole is autobiographical, the speaker can be assumed to be a fictionalised version of Wordsworth himself
  • This means the poem reveals personal details of his life
  • This is emphasised by the use of first person narration and the past tense, suggesting the speaker is recalling events which are very clear to him
  • Wordsworth grew up in the Lake District, where he spent much time outside in order to escape his difficult childhood
  • Wordsworth was also a Romantic poet, meaning that he was in favour of resisting the growth in industry by remembering a simpler, more natural past
  • Romantic poets were interested in the power of nature, humanity and emotion
  • They were generally opposed to the industrialisation and scientific progress sweeping through Europe at the time
• • Romantic poets tended to use everyday language to make their poems accessible to all, and to present themes that challenged people’s preconceptions
  • This can be seen in Wordsworth’s use of similes and repetition, such as the repetition of “huge” to emphasise the ultimate power of nature over humanity
  • He is suggesting that mankind’s belief that it can control nature, or be at one with it, is false
  • Romantic poets generally disliked attempts to impose power on people or things against their will, such as humanity’s pride in attempting to impose order or control on to nature
• Personal transformation

  • By setting the poem in his childhood home of the Lake District, Wordsworth injects a tone of realism to the poem
  • The fact that the speaker goes on an adventure in the poem relates metaphorically to the inner journey the speaker experiences
  • Wordsworth viewed The Prelude as an adaptation of the techniques Milton developed in Paradise Lost
  • But whereas Paradise Lost tells the story of the fall of Satan and Adam and Eve, Wordsworth chose his own life as a subject, turning the story inwards to capture his thoughts and impressions
  • The poem therefore recounts his spiritual development from a youth to an adult
  • The poem explores the importance of childhood and what a magical experience it can be
  • This is something Wordsworth feels is lost, to an extent, as one ages
• Given that The Prelude’s main themes are that of the power and supremacy of nature, and humankind’s efforts to control it are futile, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

  • The Prelude and Storm on the Island
  • The Prelude and Ozymandias
• The Prelude and Storm on the Island

  Comparison in a nutshell:

  Both Heaney’s Storm on the Island and the extract from The Prelude explore the power of nature and the conflict between humanity and the natural world we inhabit
• Similarities: The Prelude and Storm on the Island

  
• Similarities: The Prelude and Storm on the Island

  
• Differences: The Prelude and Storm on the Island

  
• The Prelude and Ozymandias

  Both Shelley’s Ozymandias and Wordsworth’s The Prelude highlight the overwhelming power of nature, and humankind’s inability to impact forces beyond its control

  Similarities:

  
• The Prelude and Ozymandias. Differences:

  
• The Prelude and Ozymandias. Differences: