Excerpt from The Prelude - R

Question 1

What is the poem about overall?

Answer 1

The poem is a reflection upon Wordsworth’s happy yet unpredictable childhood where he escapes to nature

Question 2

Why was the poem written?

Answer 2

Wordsworth wrote the poem as a celebration of childhood & a subtle condemnation of adulthood/Industrial Revolution

Question 3

What is the structure of the poem? What does it reflect?

Answer 3

The poem is written in iambic pentameter & uses enjambment which suggests time passing & growing up. Also uses caesura reflecting upon the narrator’s passion, excitement & breathlessness.

Question 4

What is the rhyme scheme? What does it signify?

Answer 4

Blank verse - signifies how Wordsworth’s childhood was inconsistent and unpredictable

Question 5

Name the first theme of the poem. Explain.

Answer 5

One theme of the poem is INNOCENCE. It is praise of childhood INNOCENCE & is a celebration of youthful freedom.

Question 6

Name the second theme of the poem. Explain.

Answer 6

A second theme of the poem is NATURE. It celebrates the freedom nature provides, set in the countryside & rejecting the Industrial Revolution/adulthood

Question 7

“frosty season”

Answer 7

fricative adjective
emphasises excitement, as children enjoy innocent delights eg. the weather

Question 8

“I heeded not the summons”

Answer 8

rebellious tone
Wordsworth is refusing the responsibilities of adulthood by being disobedient

Question 9

“village clock toll’d six”

Answer 9

symbolism
reflecting upon Industrial Revolution, as adulthood is being foreshadowed but the Wordsworth is refusing the reality of growing up

Question 10

“alien sound Of melancholy”

Answer 10

mysterious tone/enjambment
suggests something unsual, as Wordsworth no longer feels at home in nature (SUBLIME!!)

Question 11

“The orange sky of evening died away”

Answer 11

metaphor
implies nature has become bleak, fatalistic & uninteresting, also loss of innocence - adulthood is coming