the prelude

Question 1

what is the form of the prelude.

Answer 1

• it is written in blank verse which means each line is 10 syllables which alternate between an unstressed & stressed syllable.
  -useful tool with poem so long as it establishes & maintains an artistic quality to keep the reader engaged

Question 2

what was the structure of the prelude

Answer 2

Cyclical structure - emphasises that the change that took place during the journey was internal and psychological rather than external and physical

Question 3

O S E (L B H) (power of nature)

Answer 3

one summer evening , led by her
- personification of nature = ‘led by her’ meaning all powerful nature takes the aligning with a romantic poets ideology - suggest the poet had no agency in what was happening in the story. Wordsworth was a pantheist seeing god in the all embracing natural world.
- idea of nature being feminine
- setting of a “summer evening” creates a jolly + happy atmosphere (pathetic fallacy)

Question 4

G S I S T G S (fear + power of nature)

Answer 4

Growing still in stature the grim shape

• personification of the mountain through the verb “growing” further emphasise how gigantic the mountain is as well as an increasing danger - could also be interpreted as a symbol for the omnipotence of nature as “growing” suggests that the mountain is increasing in dominance - has unlimited power
• use of sibilance “still in stature” creates a sinister + disturbing mood, romantics like Wordsworth , opposed the idea of industrialism, in this poem it can be suggested that the poem is a metaphoric criticism of society that explores the way in which nature will always overcome & defeat man.