The Prelude

• The Prelude


  A very long poem (14 books) that told the story of William Wordsworth's life
• Extract from The Prelude: Stealing the Boat


  • Themes: Power of Nature, Fear, Childhood
  • Content, Meaning and Purpose: The story of a boy's love of nature and a night-time adventure in a rowing boat that instils a deeper and fearful respect for the power of nature
  • Language: One summer evening (led by her)'; 'an act of stealth/ And troubled pleasure'; 'nothing but the stars and grey sky'; 'the horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge'; 'Upreared its head' and 'measured motion like a living thing'; 'There hung a darkness'
  • Tones: Confident > Dark/Fearful > Reflective
• Form and Structure


  • First person narrative-creates a sense that it is a personal poem
  • The regular rhythm and enjambment add to the effect of natural speech and a personal voice
  • The extract can be split into three sections, each with a different tone to reflect his shifting mood: Lines 1-20 (rowing) carefree and confident, Lines 21-31 (the mountain appears) dark and fearful, Lines 32-44 (following days) reflective and troubled
  • Contrasts in tone: 'lustily I dipped my oars into the silent lake' versus 'I struck and struck again' and 'with trembling oars I turned'
• Extract from The Prelude: Stealing the Boat


  By William Wordsworth
• Themes


  • Power of Nature
  • Fear
  • Childhood
• Content, Meaning and Purpose

  The story of a boy's love of nature and a night-time adventure in a rowing boat that instils a deeper and fearful respect for the power of nature
• The boy's experience


  1. Calm and confident at first

  2. Scared by the sight of a huge mountain

  3. Flees back to the shore

  4. In awe of the mountain

  5. Fearful of the power of nature
• We should respect nature and not take it for granted
• "One summer evening (led by her)"


  Nature personified, shows his love for nature
• "an act of stealth / And troubled pleasure"


  Confident, but the oxymoron suggests he knows it's wrong; forebodes the troubling events that follow
• "nothing but the stars and grey sky"


  Emptiness of sky
• "the horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge"


  The image of the mountain is more shocking (contrast)
• "Upreared its head" and "measured motion like a living thing"


  The mountain is personified as a powerful beast, but calm-contrasts with his own inferior panic
• "There hung a darkness"


  Lasting effects of mountain
• Tones


  • Confident
  • Dark / Fearful
  • Reflective
• Context


  Published shortly after his death, The Prelude was a very long poem (14 books) that told the story of William Wordsworth's life<|>This extract is the first part of a book entitled 'Introduction-Childhood and School-Time'<|>Wordsworth was a romantic poet and so his poetry explores themes of nature, human emotion and how humans are shaped by their interaction with nature
• Form and Structure


  First person narrative - creates a sense that it is a personal poem<|>The regular rhythm and enjambment add to the effect of natural speech and a personal voice<|>The extract can be split into three sections, each with a different tone to reflect his shifting mood
• Contrasts in tone


  • "lustily I dipped my oars into the silent lake" versus "I struck and struck again" and "with trembling oars I turned"
• London


  Poem by William Blake
• Themes in London


  • Power
  • Inequality
  • Loss
  • Anger
• Exposure


  Poem by Wilfred Owen
• Storm on the Island


  Poem by Seamus Heaney
• The Emigree


  Poem by Carol Rumens