Extract From, The Prelude Flashcards
Which poet wrote the prelude and what are some notable contextual facts about him ?
William Wordsworth
- lived in the Lake District
- was a romantic poet
- loved nature and spent a lot of time exploring nature
- early life was somewhat depressing with a multitude of family issues
What is the context of the poem ?
- it is taken from an epic poem called the prelude
- explores views on man, nature and society
What genre of poetry is it and what are the conventions for this type ?
It’s Romanism and 1st gen
- love of supernatural
- dislike of urban life and embrace of the natural world
- use of ordinary language
It’s important as Wordsworth conforms to all of these within the poem as he explores the power of nature
What is the form of the prelude ?
Give some points on this
Epic poetry
- in blank verse and iambic pentameter with no rhyme scheme
- the hero in this poem is nature where as in classical examples hero’s are like Odysseus
What does an epic poem usually convey/ do ? What is it used for here
- conventionally a long narrative poem which tells of heroic acts
- here it is an allegory for the growth of the poet and a step into manhood
What is the one example of epic potty that was a major influence on Wordsworth ?
Paradife loft
It was a major inspiration for Wordsworth
What is the structure of the poem ? Why is this and what affect might it have
1 long verse
- the reader is overwhelmed by the size of the poem and therefore reflects young Wordsworth’s feelings of overwhelmed experience with nature
- we are therefore forced to empathize with the poet as we too share these strong emotions and overwhelming feelings
What are the 6 quotes that are important for this poem ?
‘Led by her’
‘Troubled pleasure’
‘Sparkling’
‘Proud of his skill to reach that chosen point’
‘Up most boundary’
‘Elfin pinnance’
What is a key point showing his relation to nature at the start of the poem? Brake the quote down and analyze it.
Led by her
- sexuality and human nature and desire
- personification of nature and a deflection of responsibility as he writes ‘led by her’
- by giving nature a feminine gender it could be a freudian metaphor of controlled and shunned sexual desires
- highly taboo hence why he euphemisms it and cover it with an allegory
What affect does enjabment have on the reader in this poem ? (Tie this with a point on the single verse)
- suggests overpowering ire of sexual desires as the poet cannot control himself
- adds to this overwhelming feeling of the power of nature
What is a good quote showing his conflicting emotions ? Analyze the quote and the affect it might have
‘Troubled pleasure,’
- oxymoronic sentence with the juxtaposing ideas of anti pastoral and pastoral
- here he seems to thinly veil his confession
- he does however openly confess his desires
- the represent the poets idea too Al thought process
- caesura in the form of punctuation mark which is a coma
- causes us as the reader to focus on this juxtaposition of irrationality
What is a good quote showing the celestial movement of the oars ?
‘Sparkling’
- magical and celestial qualities given to the movement of the oars
- the present participle conveys this climax of positivity but also alludes to drafters sexual pleasure
- these positive present patricbles reflect that
What quote shows a Volta and now a change in control ?
‘Proud of his skill, to reach that chosen point’
-‘chosen’ implies he is dominant and in control and this is a metaphor of his pride and ambition to now control nature
- previously he was ‘led’ by nature but now he has ‘chosen’ a point and he is controlling and trying to dominate nature
- a massive Volta as we see the shift in ambition for the poet as he gives in too his anti pastoral desires
What is a good point showing the wrongly assumed power of nature ?
‘ up most boundary’
- the poet wrongly assumed that the up most point was the sky and this in itself is a metaphor of man’s arrogance
- it is a sudden realization of the insignificance of human life in contrast to nature
- his pride is damaged with the realization of the unknown
Recite the quote that is the name of the boat ? Expand on this and analyze it
Elfin pinnace
- adjective elfin is an allusion to to folk lore whilst also connoting lust
- five a sense of magic and supernatural
- a pinnace is a type of large sailing vessel
- what was a ‘little boat’ has now grown in size
- possible metaphoric reference to the power of nature and a realization of man’s futile power
- euphemism of falic imagery and sexual desire as he is conscious of the taboo subject and his transgression against nature
- the shift in size presents a growing in pride and arrogance
