Excerpt from 'The Prelude' by William Wordsworth Flashcards
What kind of poet was William Wordsworth?
Romantic
Poem explores the relationship between _____ and ______.
human
nature
When was Wordsworth born?
1770
How old was Wordsworth when his parents died?
He was 7 when his mum died and 13 when his dad died.
Where was he sent to an orphanage?
In the heart of the Lake District.
Where is this poem a memory of?
The Lake District
What did he believe nature could be?
Like a parent or teacher.
When was this poem published?
Despite originally being composed in 1799, it wasn’t published until after his death in 1850
“And in the frosty…
season when the sun was set”
What does the use of caesura throughout this poem represent?
Could show the persona’s passion, excitement, and breathlessness.
“I heeded not the…
summons: - happy time”
“it was a time…
of rapture”
“All shod with steel,…
we hiss’d along the polish’d ice”
“The pack loud bellowing, …
and the hunted hare.”
“And not a voice was…
idle; with the din”
“The leafless trees, …
and every icy crag”
“an alien sound…
of melancholy”
“The orange sky…
of evening died away.”
“And in the frost season, when the sun was set”
Contrast between cold and heat “twilight blaz’d” suggests that nature and the ‘domestic’ are incompatible
“I heeded not the summons”
rebellious, suggests negative relationship with domestic which could have been influenced by Wordsworth’s poor relationship with his family in Cumbria.
“It was a time of rapture”
Creates a positive tone which reflects the persona’s love and enjoyment of nature.
“we hiss’d along the polish’d ice”
sibilance reflects the sound of ice skating
“the pack loud bellowing, and the hunted hare”
childhood games compared to hunting and being intrinsically rooted in nature”
“and not a voice was idle with the din”
“din” has negative connotations of nature being too loud. This is the volta as the nostalgic tone has shifted to be unsettling.
“The leafless trees, and every icy crag”
connotations of death
nature is responding to children by making the same noises as them, yet it sounds sinister
“alien sound of melancholy”
suggests a strangeness and unfamiliarity the person no longer feels comfortable in nature
“the orange sky of an evening died away”
negative tone used to show the persona’s change of attitude towards nature
