POETRY | The Prelude

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

• Born in Cumberland, William Wordsworth had a difficult childhood, with troubled relationships with his father and relatives.
• He was split up from his siblings and sent to live with different relatives, leading to a deep affection for the Lake District.
• Wordsworth was a romantic poet, resisting industrialism by remembering a simpler, natural past.
• His autobiographical epic poem, ‘The Prelude’, was inspired by the changing shape of industrial Britain and warned against the transformation of fields to factories and woods to roads.
• He was an early supporter of the French revolution, aiming to bring democracy and equality to England.
• Wordsworth’s aim was to write a three-part autobiographical epic, “The Recluse”, with The Prelude being the first volume of 400 pages.
• Romanticism, stemming from the enlightenment period, aimed to challenge people’s preconceptions and viewpoints.
• The Prelude, intended as the prologue to “The Recluse”, explored the conflict between nature and humans, or man vs nature.
• The poem was written in iambic pentameter to keep a constant rhythm, based on Wordsworth’s childhood and an event in the Lake District.
• The setting of the poem in a boat could metaphorically relate to the spiritual journey the speaker is taking in realizing the true extent of nature.

Question 2

Language

Answer 2

Wordsworth uses personification to describe nature. He opens the poem with reference to being
“(led by her)” which shapes how the reader views the whole poem. His reference to nature as
“her” or “she” is an allusion to the idea of Mother Nature, a common theme across mythology.
➔ Nature can be seen as female in that it is responsible for the feminine task of creating,
sustaining and nurturing life – just as a mother does.
➔ By using personification, Wordsworth is able to contrast the role of nature to the role of a
human – whilst women nurture a single child; nature nurtures an entire planet thus
demonstrating its superior power.
Equally, nature’s power is demonstrated by the speaker being “led by her”, suggesting the
speaker is not in control of his actions and in a way elevates blame from him for any negative
actions. Wordsworth references nature in parenthesis [“(led by her)”] suggesting it was added later. This
implies he was unaware of this control until his moment of revelation when he realised nature’s
supremacy. The parenthesis also works to imply that nature was in control of the revelation of the
peak, revealing itself to him with the intention to humble him.

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

• The poem is a single stanza, emphasizing the overwhelming power of nature.
• The lack of breaks and pauses in the poem causes the reader to feel breathless.
• The reader’s awe towards the “huge peak” is mirrored by the speaker’s experience.
• The tension builds as the stanza drags on, contributing to the poem’s endless and immense feel.
• Frequent enjambment and connectives intensify the breathless pace, making the poem feel endless and immense.
• The poem may be an allusion to John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” which is also written with lengthy stanzas and iambic pentameter.
• Wordsworth references Milton’s work, providing a contemporary version of the fall of man and challenging nature.

Question 4

Form

Answer 4

• A forty-four-line section of The Prelude.
• Written in blank verse, structured with iambic pentameter.
• Iambic pentameter: Five sets of two beats, first unstressed, second stressed.
• Most popular metrical pattern in English verse history.