the prelude 2

• William Wordsworth


  • Born in Cumberland, England in 1770
  • Had a very troubled relationship with his father and grandparents on his mother's side
  • Both parents died before he reached his mid-teens
  • Sent to live with relatives he disliked, spent time exploring the countryside
  • Early supporter of the French Revolution, later disillusioned
  • Considered a Romantic poet
  • Appointed Poet Laureate later in life
• The Prelude


  An autobiographical poem by William Wordsworth, the first part of an intended three-part epic poem titled The Recluse
• The Prelude


  • Presents experiences from Wordsworth's past and explores their philosophical importance relating to man, nature and society
  • Written in blank verse (iambic pentameter with no rhyme scheme)
  • Influenced by Milton's Paradise Lost
• Romanticism


  A literary movement that emerged as a reaction against the Enlightenment, focusing on the power of the imagination, a love of the natural world, and the use of ordinary language
• The extract being analysed is often referred to as the 'boat stealing episode'
• The boat stealing episode

  1. Wordsworth as a young boy steals a rowing boat and rows out onto Uls Water lake

  2. Fixes his eyes on a large mountain that comes into view, becomes terrified and rows back to shore

  3. Haunted by the memory of the event for days afterwards
• The Prelude as an epic poem

  • Covers Wordsworth's entire lifetime of experiences
  • Focuses on the spiritual growth of the poet as the central 'heroic' event
  • Nature can be seen as the 'hero' in this extract
• The use of blank verse in The Prelude was influenced by the popularity of Milton's Paradise Lost, which also used this poetic form
• s a clear illusion a clear literary reference to the milton poem whereas milton ends with adam and eve being cast out of eden and into the fallen world wordsworth begins within that fallen world and clearly the poet was writing with milton in mind so this is important in helping us understand some of the poet's choices not just the sort of epic poetry form but also the use of blank verse
• Blank verse


  A poem with no rhyme scheme but written in iambic pentameter where every line has ten syllables with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
• Milton's paradise lost was also written in iambic pentameter and in wordsworth's lifetime the poetry of milton was growing in popularity to the point that it became standard practice for all lengthy philosophical poetry to be written in blank verse
• The extract consists of one long verse with no stanza changes or verse breaks
• Her


  Nature, the personification of nature
• The poem reflects the child-like naivety and thoughts of young wordsworth, but also an adult perspective looking back on the experience
• Enjambment


  The continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line, suggesting an overpowering urge to communicate
• Stealth


  Connotations of the boy being both sneaky and sly in taking the boat
• The taking of the boat


  Presents man as proud, selfish and feeling superior, taking whatever he wants from nature
• Present participles


  • Used to reflect the high point of positivity in the poem, before a dramatic shift later on
• The poet fixing his view on the craggy ridge

  Demonstrates the pride and arrogance of man, thinking he is in complete control
• The poet wrongly assumes the craggy ridge is the utmost boundary, representing man's belief that he knows the limits of everything and is supreme
• Nature leading the poet to take the boat

  Nature's plan is to frighten and humble the poet, showing him the problem of the "mean and vulgar works of man"
• Elfin pinis


  A light sailing vessel, giving a sense of magic and mythology to the scene
• The turning point in the poem


  The shift from positive, elaborate imagery to the sudden appearance of the huge, black peak
• The poet's boat went heaving through the water like a swan
• From behind the craggy steep, till then the horizon's bound, a huge peak black and huge appeared
• Elfin pinis


  A light sailing vessel, with a sense of magic added by the adjective 'elfin'
• The poet exaggerates the moment in his arrogance, feeling like he is on an amazing ship
• There is a massive shift in the poem, where everything that goes beyond this point can be compared to everything that goes before it
• Sentence structure


  • Deliberately drags out the revelation of what's happening, delaying the subject and verb to increase tension and suspense
• The lack of personification used to describe the cliff, in contrast to previous personification, shows the poet's loss of power and vocabulary to define things as he wants
• The repetition of 'huge' is deliberate, showing the poet's confidence, pride and vocabulary has left him, and he is essentially stuttering
• The poet turns the boat around and goes back to the willow tree, in a cyclical pattern reflecting his fear and desperation
• Days afterwards, the poet is unable to shake off the darkness of his thoughts, and can only explain things in terms of what is not happening, rather than what is
• The poem condemns man and society as prideful and arrogant, while depicting nature as powerful and terrifying, reminding mankind of its lack of importance and superiority