The Prelude

• What are two ways you can compare The Prelude and Ozymandias?

  -both people show an arrogant assumption that they are able to overpower nature

  -both poems show that nurture ultimately is the stronger force and makes human power seem insignificant by comparison
• What are two ways you can compare Ozymandias and The Prelude?

  -both poems show a huge contrast in tone which demonstrates the shift in power balance from humans towards nature -Prelude has no set structure or rhyme scheme which makes the poem seem like natural speech whereas Ozymandias has a sonnet structure but doesn't have a rhyme scheme either. This symbolises how nature can spill out of all bounds and disrupt the structures created by humans
• What quotes can you use to compare Ozymandias and The Prelude on the topic of the contrast in tone which symbolises the shift in power away from humans and towards nature?

  Ozymandias:

  -begins by describing various parts of the statue, such as the 'two vast and trunkless legs of stone'

  -ends with 'the lone and level stands stretch far away' which cements the idea that Ozymandias' power is destroyed

  The Prelude:

  -begins by describing a picturesque scene including 'a little boat tied to a willow tree', -ends with effect this experience had, describing the thoughts as 'a trouble to my dreams'
• What quotes can you use to compare Ozymandias and The Prelude on the topic of the structure?

  -Ozymanduas has sonnet form to show his self-love but no rhyme scheme or regular iambic pentameter to show that nature cannot be contained within manmade structures

  -Prelude uses blank verse to show the importance of the experience
• What quotes can you use to compare Ozymandias and The Prelude on the topic of the people's arrogant assumption that they can overpower nature?

  -like one who rows / proud of his skill

  -with an unswerving line

  -look on my works

  -despair
• What quotes can you use to compare Ozymandias and The Prelude on the topic of nature being so powerful it makes human power seem insignificant?

  -a huge peak, black and huge

  -o'er my thoughts / there hung a darkness

  -a trouble to my dreams'

  -shattered visage

  -half sunk

  -...round the decay of that collosal wreck

  -two vast and trunkless legs of stone