the prelude

• form - extract from an epic poem as a single stanza, elucidating how nature is omnipresent and incessant
• As the 'father of Romanticism', Wordsworth aims to display the sublime power of nature.
• "lustily / I dipped my oars into the silent lake"


  nature is initially depicted as passive and submissive, elucidating Wordsworth's initial hubris as he attempts to conquer the natural world but is humbled by this experience.
• "a huge peak, black and huge."


  deliberately clumsy and simplistic language reveals how nature renders Wordsworth speechless as he is overwhelmed by the omnipotence of nature.
• "upreared it's head."


  personification of nature - nature as a dominant and powerful force that reveals the ephemerality of human power
• "like a living thing/ strode after me."


  enjambment increases towards the end, reflecting the speaker's panic as he has the epiphany that nature is far superior to man.