Extract from, The Prelude Flashcards
“A little boat tied to a willow tree”
the boat is a metaphor of man’s influence, still anchored by the tree representing nature
“Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in Pushed from the shore”
is being freed/ dangerous
loosening the chain and pushing from the shore represents the poet as mankind moving to stand on its own two feet
“troubled pleasure, nor without the voice Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on”
imposing internal voices -troubled conscious
“Small circles glittering idly in the moon.”
wordsworth creates an idyllic and peaceful scene with language semantically peaceful.
“Upon the summit of a craggy ridge, The horizons utmost boundary;”
The mood changed with the craggy ridge and horizons boundary represents nature, limiting the process of the poet.
“She was an elfin pinnace;lustily”
The term ‘elfin pinnace ‘ could be translated as ‘fairy boat’ a metaphor for the now heated mood of the poet. Elves were often viewed as sexual and lustful.
“Went heaving through the water like a swan;”
This simile reminds us that anything man tries to produce is merely imitating nature which does it better.
“The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge,”
The horizon marks the shift in tone, the language becomes darker and dangerous .
“With trembling oars I turned,”
fear/guilt/anxiety
“and through the meadows homeward went, in grave and serious mood; but after I had seen”
meadows, usually peaceful and joyful and juxtaposed to the ‘grave and serious mood/tone’
“There hung a darkness, call it solitude or blank desertion.”
The darkness hanging over him represents his change to a darker mood at the end of the journey-The words all carry a dark and sinister tone, more morbid and melancholy. He is reflecting on the conflict in his mind of the juxtaposed fearful extremes it also contains “big and mighty forms”
“were a trouble to my dreams”
lexical field of depression transformation and mental disturbance
