the prelude

Question 1

who wrote this poem?

Answer 1

William Wordsworth

Question 2

what imagery is used?

Answer 2

sound, sight and the natural world to bring alive the vivid and joyous experience

Question 3

what feel is used?

Answer 3

a nostalgic feel- Wordsworth looks back on the innocence and happiness of his childhood

Question 4

what is the first line of the poem and what does it represent?

Answer 4

“and in the frosty season, when the sun was set and visible for a mile”
imagery of Winter- the premature end of a Wintery day

Question 5

what juxtaposes this Winter imagery?

Answer 5

the “sun” and “blaz’d”

Question 6

what rapid movements are there in the poem?

Answer 6

“wheel’d about” and “hiss’d” and “flew”

Question 7

what does the word “rapture” convey?

Answer 7

the intense enjoyments of the boys skating on the lake

Question 8

how is the natural world represented in the poem?

Answer 8

the humans are presented as animals (horses)- “all shod with steel” and “like an untir’d horse”
the natural world is portrayed too- “woodland pleasures” and “leafless trees”

Question 9

what is important about the natural world being presented?

Answer 9

highlights the belief that that natural world is all one- connected and in harmony

Question 10

what did Romantic poets believe in?

Answer 10

reuniting man and nature together as one- they believed that emotion was the key to poetry

Question 11

what duty did Romantic poets believed they had?

Answer 11

it was their duty to inform and inspire people about nature

Question 12

how did the Romantic’s write their poetry?

Answer 12

they made it easy to understand as they believed that poetry should be accessible to the common man

Question 13

“village clock…

Answer 13

toll’d six”

Question 14

what is important about the “village clock toll’d six?”

Answer 14

the poem is set in a village- creates a sense of warm community- comforting for Wordsworth as he lost his parents at a young age

Question 15

“through the darkness…

Answer 15

and cold we flew”

Question 16

what does the line “through the darkness and cold we flew”?

Answer 16

children are uncaring and oblivious to the cold and dark surrounding them- enjoying the freedom they experience and how they feel uncontrolled

Question 17

“the cottage windows…

Answer 17

through the twilight blaz’d”

Question 18

what does the line “the cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d” mean?

Answer 18

the windows of the cottage look warm and cosy as opposed to the “frost season outside”- contrasting the difference between the outside and the inside of his home- he still loves all aspects of it

Question 19

“heeded not…

Answer 19

the summons”

Question 20

what does “heeded not the summons” mean?

Answer 20

the child is being told to return home but does not listen to the calls from his family at home as he is happy outside with and feels at home there, enjoying himself

Question 21

what lines could you use for sense of place?

Answer 21

“I heeded not the summons”
“village clock toll’d six”
“through the darkness and cold we flew”
“the cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d”

Question 22

structure and form: where are the negative emotions in the poem?

Answer 22

only seen at the end of the poem after reaching the volta- reflecting his emotions changing as the days end and how he knows the times of joy he is experiencing at the time will not last forever

Question 23

structure and form: the negative emotions of nature?

Answer 23

the change from a positive portrayal of nature at the start of the poem (“frosty season”) to a negative one at the end (“icy crag”)
shows how his perception of nature and sense of wonder has deteriorated as he’s grown older and nature became more ominous and a looming presence, when once it was a thing of beauty

Question 24

“leafless…

Answer 24

trees”

Question 25

what does “leafless trees” mean?

Answer 25

nature is dying along with the passion the children have for nature0 the colour has drained from the trees just as the colour drains from his life as he grows older

Question 26

“alien sound…

Answer 26

of melancholy”

Question 27

what does “alien sound of melancholy” mean?

Answer 27

the sound of melancholy and sadness is not commonly heard among children- it is a foreign and confusing sound- hence why it is “alien”

Question 28

“the orange sky…

Answer 28

of evening died away”

Question 29

what does “the orange sky of evening died away” mean?

Answer 29

as the evening died away, so did another day of his childhood- a time he enjoyed and one which was short and of a limited time length

Question 30

what could the negative ending of the poem signify?

Answer 30

the end of his childhood and the passing of such an enjoyable time