Excerpt from 'The Prelude' by William Wordsworth

Question 1

What kind of poet was William Wordsworth?

Answer 1

Romantic

Question 2

Poem explores the relationship between _____ and ______.

Answer 2

human
nature

Question 3

When was Wordsworth born?

Answer 3

1770

Question 4

How old was Wordsworth when his parents died?

Answer 4

He was 7 when his mum died and 13 when his dad died.

Question 5

Where was he sent to an orphanage?

Answer 5

In the heart of the Lake District.

Question 6

Where is this poem a memory of?

Answer 6

The Lake District

Question 7

What did he believe nature could be?

Answer 7

Like a parent or teacher.

Question 8

When was this poem published?

Answer 8

Despite originally being composed in 1799, it wasn’t published until after his death in 1850

Question 9

“And in the frosty…

Answer 9

season when the sun was set”

Question 10

What does the use of caesura throughout this poem represent?

Answer 10

Could show the persona’s passion, excitement, and breathlessness.

Question 11

“I heeded not the…

Answer 11

summons: - happy time”

Question 12

“it was a time…

Answer 12

of rapture”

Question 13

“All shod with steel,…

Answer 13

we hiss’d along the polish’d ice”

Question 14

“The pack loud bellowing, …

Answer 14

and the hunted hare.”

Question 15

“And not a voice was…

Answer 15

idle; with the din”

Question 16

“The leafless trees, …

Answer 16

and every icy crag”

Question 17

“an alien sound…

Answer 17

of melancholy”

Question 18

“The orange sky…

Answer 18

of evening died away.”

Question 19

“And in the frost season, when the sun was set”

Answer 19

Contrast between cold and heat “twilight blaz’d” suggests that nature and the ‘domestic’ are incompatible

Question 20

“I heeded not the summons”

Answer 20

rebellious, suggests negative relationship with domestic which could have been influenced by Wordsworth’s poor relationship with his family in Cumbria.

Question 21

“It was a time of rapture”

Answer 21

Creates a positive tone which reflects the persona’s love and enjoyment of nature.

Question 22

“we hiss’d along the polish’d ice”

Answer 22

sibilance reflects the sound of ice skating

Question 23

“the pack loud bellowing, and the hunted hare”

Answer 23

childhood games compared to hunting and being intrinsically rooted in nature”

Question 24

“and not a voice was idle with the din”

Answer 24

“din” has negative connotations of nature being too loud. This is the volta as the nostalgic tone has shifted to be unsettling.

Question 25

“The leafless trees, and every icy crag”

Answer 25

connotations of death
nature is responding to children by making the same noises as them, yet it sounds sinister

Question 26

“alien sound of melancholy”

Answer 26

suggests a strangeness and unfamiliarity the person no longer feels comfortable in nature

Question 27

“the orange sky of an evening died away”

Answer 27

negative tone used to show the persona’s change of attitude towards nature