Extract from the prelude Flashcards
Who wrote The Prelude?
William Wordsworth
Summary of The Prelude
Rowing a boat into the middle of a lake where a mountain grows and realising the monumental nature of the mountain and hurries back to shore.
The Prelude:
“elfin . . . ” & “small circles . . . idly”
“elfin pinnace” & “small circles glittering idly”
“elfin pinnace” & “small circles glittering idly”
- poetic and descriptive
- romanticised
- magical
The Prelude:
“a . . . peak, . . . and . . . ”
“a huge peak, black and huge”
“a huge peak, black and huge”
- loss of eloquence
- rendered speechless
- devolved vocabulary
- repetition of huge
The Prelude:
“an act of . . . ” & “. . . my way back to the covert of the . . . tree”
“an act of stealth” & “stole my way back to the covert of the willow tree”
“an act of stealth” & “stole my way back to the covert of the willow tree”
- cyclical
- linguistic echo
- psychological change
- fear of natures omnipotence
- indicative of humility
The Prelude:
“. . . all into one track” & “. . . through the water”
“melted all into one track” & “heaving through the water”
“melted all into one track” & “heaving through the water”
- parallelism of rowing
- nature provides comforting unity
- intense physical effort
- natures supremacy is apparent
The Prelude:
“(led by her)”
“(. . . by her)”
“(led by her)”
- allusion mother nature is feminine
- creating, sustaining and nurturing life
- personification of nature power
What is the structure of the poem The Prelude?
- enjambment (overwhelming)
- cyclical structure (spiritual not physical journey)
- parallelism (changing views)
What are the key images of The Prelude?
- criticises the arrogance of human assumption of power when nature is superior
- he fears not nature but the realisation of his own ignorance and insignificance
What other poems link to The Prelude?
- Kamikaze
- Ozymandius
- Storm on the Island
