Extract from The Prelude Flashcards
Context
William Wordsworth was a romantic poet. Romantic poets aimed to present the world and challenge the concept of human existence. Such poems aimed to consider how people developed morally and spiritually.
Plot
The poem is about the journey of a young boy who steals a boat. He doesn’t travel very far when he becomes fearful of the mountains that surround him. He quickly returns home but the experience haunts him
Form
Blank verse
Iambic pentameter
10 syllables (5 stressed 5 unstressed)
Structure
One stanza
44 lines
Tone
Awe
Fear
Anger
Themes
Power of humans
Power of nature
Power of memory
PTSD
First person experience
Key quotes-“It was an act of stealth And troubled pleasure”
Almost a cocky and disdainful tone as it seems as if the boy is trying to show off his skill and how easily he took the boat. It could also suggest that mankind is selfish and proud of taking from nature, which is truly dominant and overpowering; man is arrogant and over confident. The oxymoron links to the previous line shows how he feels ecstatic yet guilty about venturing onto the pristine waters of nature and disturbing them. Alternatively it may refer to how he found his environment intimidating yet beautiful. It is so beautiful and overwhelming that he feels as if he is trespassing perhaps on nature’s secrets. This could refer to how Wordsworth, as a romantic poet, presents the world in different ways
Key Quote-“ A huge peak, black and huge, as if with voluntary power instinct, upreared its head”
Nature emerges as a powerful force, almost gothic in atmosphere. The word huge is repeated for emphasis and almost seems disjointed, suggesting the impact that the massive peak has on his state of mind- so much that he cant compose a syntactically sound sentence. Alternatively the change of tone can show that nature isn’t what it seems and is presented as sudden, startling monster. The plosive ps and bs are used to suggest heaviness and dominance. The peak is also personified like a gothic monster. The verb uprear is prepositional and suggests that nature is on a higher level than the poet, seemingly dominant over him.
Key quotes-“moved slowly through the mind By day and were a trouble to my dreams”
This quote shows how the encounter changed him as figures now move slowly through his mind as if he is possessed by sinister forces, showing the cyclical structure of the earlier gothic mood. The trouble to my dreams also shows a cyclical structure to the earlier troubled pleasure. Alternatively, this quote may relate to how many children feel safe in their parents care and are not aware of the dangers of the world until an event opens their eyes to the reality that the world is a dangerous place. The speaker makes the idea clear as a shift is seen to have occurred in the extract. In a few lines he turns from a carefree fearless boy to a cautious adult aware of the realities of the world. This realization hung over him for the rest of his days and he was never able to see the world from the light of his childhood ever again.
Can compare to…
Storm on the island-Nature
Exposure-Power of nature
