Boat stealing by William Wordsworth Flashcards
HOW DOES BOAT STEALING PRESENT INNER CONFLICT?
-There is inner conflict in this poem as William Wordsworth as young boy feels guilty for stealing the boat and breaking the rules by sailing out onto the lake on it.
-However, he does not just feel guilty, he also feels great sense of excitement through having this new experience which is why he calls it ‘troubled pleasure’.
-The oxymoron ‘troubled pleasure’ symbolises the fear that children have when they gain independence or break the rules alongside the excitement that comes with new experience.
-Therefore, Wordsworth’s poem stands almost as a metaphor for growing up and the transition between childhood and adulthood.
-There is also inner conflict between him and the power of nature as ‘’This huge cliff rose up between me’ and ‘with trembling hands I turned’
-The conjunction ‘between’ in comparison to the adjectives ‘huge’ alongside ‘rose’ highlights how nature became very powerful to young William Wordsworth and how he found nature as very intimidating and made him feel scared and vulnerable.
-This also serves as a metaphor for when children face issues in life and become scared and intimidated, just like how young William Wordsworth was intimidated by the cliff.
What is this poem about?
About William Wordsworth who stole a boat as a child and found it scary but pleasurable. He also found nature very appealing but scary at the same time as he saw a big cliff that made him feel scared - which highlights nature’s power.
What themes are presented in the poem?
Power of nature, childhood, fear, Internal conflict as he feels scared by the mountain.
key quotes
‘I went alone in the Shepherd’s Boat’ -
Shows how he has stolen to boat
key quotes
‘troubled pleasure’
- Oxymoron and the contrast that shows the conflict between guilt for taking the boat as well as the nature scares him as he feels vulnerable and pleasure as it is exciting.
- ALSO SHOWS HOW WHEN CHILDREN BREAK THE RULES THEY FEEL BOTH EXCITED BUT WORRIED AND SCARED AT THE SAME TIME.
key quotes
‘Elfin pinnace’ -
Highlights how he does find it very relaxing and pleasurable to be sailing his boat along the river and highlights the deep connection with the outside world
‘’This huge cliff rose up between me’ and ‘with trembling hands I turned’ -
Shows the conflict between the power of nature and humans and how the power of this mountain made him feel very vulnerable.
