Excerpt from The Prelude Flashcards
introduction
- This excerpt captures a childhood memory of ice skating on a frosty evening.
- Wordsworth’s nostalgic tone conveys the joy and freedom of youth and the connection between humans and nature.
- The poem explores the themes of innocence and the power of nature.
form
- blank verse - mimics natural speech
- iambic pentameter which reinforces the authenticity and naturalism of the speaker’s voice, like an inner monologue
- part of an epic poem
structure
- enjambment
- caesurae : ‘:’ ‘;’ ‘-‘, ‘.’
- one stanza creating a sense of breathlessness to convey the overwhelming intensity of the experience he depicts
finish the quote: ‘when the sun…
…/Was set’
‘when the sun / Was set’
- enjambment emphasises ‘Was set’
- could foreshadow the idea of things ending
caesurae
could represent the persona’s passion, excitement and breathlessness
structure of ideas inside the poem
- fun - light and carefree tone
- serious tone - greater awareness of nature
finish the quote: ‘all shod..
…with steel’
finish the quote: ‘we hiss’d…
…along the polish’d ice’
‘all shod with steel’
‘we hiss’d along the polish’d ice’
- sibilance
- reflects the sound of ice skating
finish the quote: ‘the precipices..
…rang aloud’
finish the quote: ‘every icy..
…crag’
‘the precipices rang aloud’
‘every icy crag’
- echoing
- nature is responding to the children by making the same noise as them, yet it sounds sinister
finish the quote: ‘Into the tumult…
..sent an alien sound/Of melancholy’
‘Into the tumult sent an alien sound/Of melancholy’
- enjambment makes it stand out
- could be because the change of feeling is both strong and unusual for the persona
finish the quote: ‘proud and exulting, like an..
.. untir’d horse, / That cares not for its home’
‘proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse/That cares not for its home’
- the persona feels confident, strong and free
- they like and associate with nature
finish the quote: ‘in games…
…/Confederate’
finish the quote: ‘loud..
..bellowing’
finish the quote: ‘not a voice..
..was idle’
finish the quote: ‘imitative…
…of the chace’
finish the quote: ‘resounding..
..horn’
‘games/Confederate’
‘loud bellowing’
‘not a voice was idle’
‘imitative of the chace’
‘resounding horn’
- childhood games compared to hunting
- they are loud, manic and intrinsically rooted in nature
finish the quote: ‘the orange..
..sky of evening died away’
‘the orange sky of evening died away’
- the ‘death’ of an evening could represent a loss of innocence
- celestial imagery - feeling of closure
title
- ‘The Prelude’
- a soft introduction
- could relate to the theme (youthfulness and innocence’ - context tells us it is about Wordsworth’s childhood
finish the quote: ‘alien..
..sound’
‘alien sound’
- suggests a strangeness and unfamiliarity - the persona no longer feels comfortable in nature
- supernatural image
finish the quote: ‘died…
..away’
finish the quote: ‘of..
..melancholy’
finish the quote: ‘lifeless..
…trees’
‘died away’
‘Of melancholy’
‘lifeless trees’
- negative tone employed
- to show the persona’s change of attitude towards nature
finish the quote: ‘woodland..
..pleasures’
‘woodland pleasures’
‘games’
- positive tone maintained
finish the quote: ‘with the..
..din’
‘with the din’
- negative connotations
- too loud, too long, too unpleasant
finish the quote: ‘time of..
..rapture’
finish the quote: ‘happy..
..time’
‘time of rapture’
‘happy time’
‘exulting’
- positive tone reflects the persona’s love for and enjoyment of nature
finish the quote: ‘I heeded..
..not the summons’
‘I heeded not the summons’
- the first person persona is presented as rebellious
finish the quote: ‘frosty..
..season’
finish the quote: ‘twilight…
..blaz’d’
‘frosty season’
‘twilight blaz’d’
- contrast between cold and heat suggests that nature and the domestic are incompatible
childhood voice/juvenile language
- simple adjectives : ‘clear’ ‘loud’ ‘happy’
mood and tone
- one of rapture as the young Wordsworth has fun playing ‘games confederate’ as he ice skates which was a known hobby of his
- towards the end of the poem, the tone is ‘melancholy’ as he is startled by the sounds of nature all around them
- there is a clear shift in tone from excitement and adventure to fear and awe as the poem progresses and nature becomes increasingly threatening
key quotations for nature’s beauty and power
“… while the stars,/
Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west/
The orange sky of evening died away.”
“The leafless trees, and every icy crag/
Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills”
“stars … sparkling clear …”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR NATURE’S BEAUTY AND POWER
“… while the stars,/
Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west/
The orange sky of evening died away.”
“The leafless trees, and every icy crag/
Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills”
“stars … sparkling clear …”
The stanza starts and ends cyclically with descriptions of the beauty of the sky, rooting the poem firmly in the natural world
Nature’s awesome, threatening power, is suggested by the simile of ‘iron’ and the cold, barren descriptions of trees and mountains
Sibilance heightens the beauty of the celestial description, underlining the spiritual nature of his encounter with nature
key quotations for innocence and youth
“I wheel’d about,”
“We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games
“happy time”
“clear and loud”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR INNOCENCE AND YOUTH
“I wheel’d about,”
“We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games
“happy time”
“clear and loud”
Childlike verbs “wheel’d”, “flew” and “hiss’d” conveys a sense of carefree movement. References to games, chasing and hunting convey a sense of joy in their freedom and unexpected independence
Simple, monosyllabic adjectives convey the speaker’s innocence and youth
key quotations for freedom and independence
“I wheel’d about,
/Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse,
/That cares not for his home …”
“loud bellowing”
“And not a voice was idle; with the din,”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE
“I wheel’d about,
/Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse,
/That cares not for his home …”
“loud bellowing”
“And not a voice was idle; with the din,”
