the prelude Flashcards
“One summer evening (led by her)”
-“her” = personifies nature, shows the power it has over humans
“Straight I unloosed her chain”
-personifies the boat = the writer is arrogant and wants to look like a hero
-example of a heroic act as it is “Epic poetry”, normally used when talking about heroes
“Small circles glittering idly in the moon, until they melted into a tack of light”
-Nature is presented as relaxed and beautiful (unlike later at the volta)
-False sense of security is created which fuels arrogance
-“glittering” + “sparkling” = celestial imagery- nature is greater than humans
“She was an _____ pinnace; lustily I dipped my ____ into the ______ lake”
She was an elfin pinnace; lustily. I dipped my oars into the silent lake,
“elfin pinnace” = describe simple boat as something better and more heroic (link to epic poetry)
“elfin” = small and magical
-Plays with the idea of speaker conquering nature
“When, from behind that _______ steep… a ____ peak, ______ and huge”
“When, from behind that craggy steep… a huge peak, black and huge”
Volta (turning point) = was safe and beautiful, now scary and dangerous
-“craggy” = shatters previous delicacy of the description
-“huge peak, black and huge” = monosyllabic and opposes “glittering”/out of place in the like the mountain is in the scenery
-Repetition of “huge” = shows fear and panic
“________ its head”
“Upreared its head”
-Personification = makes seem animalistic like nature is now defending itslef
“_________ up between __ and the _____”
“Towered up between me and the stars”
-“Towered” = far greater than him and more powerful
-Blocks the stars = stars are navigation so therefore he feels lost/his fear is blocking out the beauty around him
“…through the ______ water ______ my way back to the _______ of the _______ tree”
“…through the silent water stole my way back to the covert of the willow tree”
-“stole” = now feels like he doesn’t belong (opposes arrogance at start)
-“covert” = wants to get to safety and wants to hide from the guilt he is feeling and the things he has seen
“No f_________ _______ remained”
“no familiar shapes remained”
-His view of nature has now been tainted by his experience, a whole new “unfamiliar” experience
“But ____ and mighty ______, that do not live like living ___”
“but huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men”
-“forms” = vague bc is unable to compare to anything - shows vulnerability as nature is so powerful cannot identify
-“live like living men” = in awe of nature and the omniscience of it/ change in behavior shows that we should respect not abuse it
“…were a ________ to my _______”
“were a trouble to my dreams”
-Presents an unsettling image to show how nature scolded the speaker for thinking he was better than it
-The speaker is better suited to thinking of his place in the world
Context
-The lake is Lake Ullswater
-The poem was written in 1798 but wasn’t published until after his death
