Extract From, The Prelude Analysis

• The Prelude


  An epic poem intended as the prologue to the planned three-part epic poem "The Recluse", which Wordsworth died before finishing
• Perspective


  • Autobiographical, with first person narration in past tense to show the speaker (a fictionalized version of Wordsworth) recalling personal experiences
  • Blurring of past and present through use of present participles to show how the experience has shaped the speaker's worldview
• Structure


  • Epic poem - a lengthy narrative poem focused on a heroic protagonist and legendary events
  • Can be considered an epic biography poem, with Wordsworth as the hero or nature personified as the hero
  • Focuses on spiritual growth and awakening to nature's power rather than physical heroic actions
• The Prelude was intended as the prologue to The Recluse, a three part epic poem which Wordsworth died before finishing
• The main conflict explored in the poem is that of man vs nature
• The setting of the poem, a boat on a journey, metaphorically relates to the spiritual journey the speaker is taking in realizing the true extent of nature
• Wordsworth uses personification, referring to nature with feminine pronouns, to contrast the power of nature to the role of a human
• The speaker initially thinks he is in control, but is then humbled when he realizes the true power and supremacy of nature
• The encounter with the mountain changes the speaker's perception of nature, leaving him feeling insignificant and in the dark about the true extent of nature's power
• 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
  • This causes the reader to feel breathless as there are no breaks or pauses
  • This sensation increases as the stanza drags on, contributing to the building up of tension as the reader approaches the peak
  • 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 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
• 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. When the speaker is setting out, his oar strokes "melted all into one track" showing his easy movement

  3. After seeing the mountain, his rowing becomes laboured as he starts "heaving through the water", showing his loss of control

  4. The initial calm and relaxed rowing is contrasted with the frantic rowing back to shore
• Cyclical structure


  Wordsworth employs this to emphasise that the change that took place during the journey was internal and psychological rather than external and physical
• Linguistic echo between the start and end of the poem

  At the start, the speaker "stole" the boat due to arrogance, but at the end he "stole" away due to fear and humility 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
• Language changes


  • As the speaker becomes overwhelmed, the language becomes less sophisticated, with repetition and simple statements compensating for the loss of eloquence
  • The repetition of "huge" emphasises the size of the mountain and suggests the speaker is nervous and intimidated
• Personification of nature


  Wordsworth describes nature as "her" or "she", alluding to the idea of Mother Nature and contrasting nature's superior power to nurture an entire planet compared to a human mother
• The parenthesis around "(led by her)" suggests the speaker was unaware of nature's control until his moment of revelation
• Similes


  Wordsworth uses similes to try and help the reader 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
• Mythology


  Wordsworth romanticises the memory of the event, suggesting it had a significant spiritual influence on him, with the boat taking on a mythical quality
• Motif of the mountain

  Represents humanity's underestimation of nature's power, with the speaker's confidence in nature's inferiority being a dangerous misconception
• The themes of pride in the poem are comparable to that in Milton's Paradise Lost, and both poems are written in iambic pentameter as epic poems with lengthy stanzas
• Power


  The speaker's ignorance of nature's power is manifested in the "darkness" and lack of colour as he realises he has been living metaphorically in the dark, unaware of his own insignificance