The Prelude quote analysis

• "one summer evening (led by her)"

  unclear who "her" is. an earlier part of the poem suggests it's nature, personified
• "a little boat tied to a willow tree"

  happy, rural image
• "within a rocky cave, its usual home"

  seems familiar to him
• "it was an act of stealth"

  the narrator knows he's doing something wrong- this is the first clue that something isn't quite right
• "troubled pleasure"

  oxymoron hints at narrators guilt
• "leaving behind her still, on either side, small circles glittering idly in the moon, until they melted all into one track of sparkling light."

  the succession of "I" sounds helps the poem flow, like the boat moving gently across the lake.
• "proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point with an unswerving line"

  narrator seems confident, maybe a bit arrogant. contrasts with mood later in the poem.
• "the horizon's utmost boundary; far above was nothing but the stars and the grey sky."

  this emptiness contrasts with line 22, when he looks at the horizon again. this makes the appearance of the mountain more shocking
• "she was an elfin pinnace"

  the metaphor of "a fairy boat" makes the scene seem magical and otherworldly, but still not threatening.
• "like a swan"

  the natural simile shows that he's confident and in control- enhances the contrast with the next line
• "when, from behind that craggy steep"


  turning point (volta) introduces a complete change in tone. the simple word is emphasised by being at the start of the line and by the caesura.
• "the horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge"

  darker and more threatening language- a mountain appears on the horizon
• "as if with voluntary power instinct, it upreared its head"

  the mountain is personified. ugly image- contrasts to earlier beautiful images of the boat ("elfin" "swan")
• "I struck and struck again, and growing still in stature"

  as the narrator rows away from the mountain, more and more of it comes into view. this means it seems like the mountain is getting bigger, and makes it sound like a nightmare.
• "the grim shape towered up between me and the stars, and still, for so it seemed..."

  the repetition of sibilant sounds creates a sinister mood.
• "with purpose of its own and measured motion like a living thing, strode after me"

  the mountain is calm, powerful and in control- contrasts with the narrators fears
• "with trembling oars I turned, and through the silent water stole my way back to the covert of the willow tree"

  he's afraid and guilty, and wants to hide away- he feels like an intruder.
• "and through the meadows homeward went, in grave an serious mood"

  the event has had a big impact on him- "grave" means serious, but may also be a reminder of his own morality.
• "for many days, my brain worked with a dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being"

  the vague language shows that the narrator doesn't know what he's seen- he's struggling to describe it.
• "o'er my thoughts there hung a darkness, call it solitude"

  the narrator is feeling alone and unsettled
• "no familiar shapes remained, no pleasant images of trees, of sea or sky"

  the narrator no longer thinks of nature in terms of pretty images- he's learnt there is more to it than that.
• "but huge mighty forms, that do not live like living men"

  nature is described as a powerful, conscious being that can influence our lives
• "and were a trouble to my dreams"

  unsettling image- helps us to emphasise with him. huge contrast to the tone and mood at start.