Prelude

• The Prelude


  An epic poem by William Wordsworth that was intended as the prologue to a larger three-part epic poem called "The Recluse"
• Romantic Movement


  • Rejected the cold rationalism of the Enlightenment, focused on the beauty of nature and past life, used everyday language, reacted against industrialisation
• The extract from The Prelude

  1. Wordsworth steals a boat and rows out onto a lake

  2. Watches the ripples as he rows

  3. Sees the mountain grow bigger than he thought

  4. Realises the immensity of nature

  5. Scared, rows back to shore

  6. Haunted by the experience for days after
• Wordsworth's view of nature

  Changes after the experience, realises nature's power and his own insignificance
• The Prelude


  • An epic poem, focuses on a heroic protagonist (either Wordsworth or nature itself), explores spiritual growth and awakening to nature's power
• Wordsworth died before completing the planned three-part epic poem "The Recluse" of which The Prelude was intended to be the first part
• Epics


  One of the first forms of poetry, typically written to incite a sense of awe in the reader as the narrative often focused on the heroism of the central character
• The Prelude


  An Epic biography poem, and if it is autobiographical, then Wordsworth is its hero. However, it can also be argued that the "hero" is nature personified
• Some critics claim the poem's focus on nature and mundane everyday life makes it seem underwhelming compared to most epics (e.g. Homer's Odyssey), as a scared child is poor competition as a hero, and growing up is not really a heroic event
• Wordsworth's intention for The Prelude

  The adventure is not his physical actions but his spiritual growth and journey to becoming a poet, including his awakening to nature's power and his own insignificance, these providing the epic factor to the poem
• Stanza structure


  • The entire extract is a single stanza which emphasises the overwhelming power of nature
  • There are no breaks or pauses which causes the reader to feel breathless
• If the reader feels overwhelmed by the intensity of the poem


  This could be to reflect how Wordsworth was overwhelmed by the immensity of the mountain and nature
• Stanza structure


  • The breathless pace is also intensified by frequent enjambment and connectives that prevent the reader from pausing, inciting a sense of vastness in the reader by making the poem feel endless and immense
• It is also possible the poem was structured in this way as an allusion to John Milton's "Paradise Lost" which is also written with very lengthy stanzas / iambic pentameter / epic poem
• Wordsworth was known to have been greatly inspired by Milton's work, and he makes many references to him throughout The Prelude
• Parallelism


  The use of grammatically identical / similar components repeated in a sentence or multiple sentences
• Parallelism in the poem

  1. Contrasts how the speaker was before and after the revelation of nature's power, highlighting how the experience has acted as a catalyst in his development

  2. Shown in the speaker's rowing: initially calm and relaxed, then frantic and laboured after seeing the mountain
• Cyclical structure


  • Wordsworth employs a cyclical structure in his poem to emphasise that the change that took place during the journey was internal and psychological rather than external and physical
• The speaker steals the boat at the beginning

  An act of stealth, symbolic of arrogance and entitlement
• The speaker steals back to the willow tree at the end


  An act of humility and fear in the face of nature's power
• Enjambment


  • Makes the poem flow but also gives a sense of a lack of control from the lack of structure, making the poem feel like a stream of consciousness
• Loss of eloquence


  As the poem progresses and the speaker becomes overwhelmed by the mountain, the language becomes less sophisticated, with simple statements of size and colour
• Repetition of "huge"


  • Emphasises the sheer size of the mountain, and may suggest the speaker is nervous and intimidated in the face of such raw power
• Personification of nature


  Wordsworth uses personification to describe nature, referring to it as "her" or "she", alluding to the idea of Mother Nature and contrasting nature's superior power to that of a human
• Similes


  Wordsworth uses similes to try and help his readers understand his experience, suggesting he wants to share the knowledge he has gained about nature's power
• Semantic fields


  • Wordsworth employs semantic fields of nature, power and pride to create an emotive atmosphere and setting
• Mythology


  Wordsworth romanticises his memory of the event, transforming his "little boat" into an "elfin pinnace", suggesting it was a significant spiritual journey of self-discovery
• Motif of the mountain

  • The mountain represents the underestimation of nature's power, with the speaker's definitive statement that the craggy peak is the "horizon's utmost boundary" showing humanity's misplaced confidence and false sense of superiority over nature
• Theme of pride


  Comparable to that in John Milton's "Paradise Lost", showing how humanity's innate hubris (confidence/pride) leads to ignorance and subsequent offences against the forces they underestimate
• Theme of power


  The speaker's ignorance of nature's power is manifested in the "darkness" and lack of colour as he realises his own insignificance