the prelude Flashcards
who was it written by and some brief life info?
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
He was one of the most influential English Romantic poets.
He was an enthusiast for the ideas of the French Revolution.
The Prelude, his great autobiographical poem, was published after his death.
what is the form and structure like?
The poem is written in free verse which was normally used in epic poems, not personal ones.
Unrhymed but written in iambic pentameter.
First person speaker adds to the personal tone of the poem.
what are the key themes?
Wordsworth was a Romantic poet and the Romantics tended to support the French Revolution.
The Romantics highlighted the healing power of the imagination.
He was worried about the elitism of earlier poets.
A key idea in Romantic poetry is the concept of the sublime. This term conveys the feelings people experience when they see awesome landscapes, or find themselves in extreme situations which elicit both fear and admiration.
For the world to be regenerated, the Romantics said that it was necessary to start all over again with a childlike perspective.
what is the literary and historical context?
Historical Context: ‘The Prelude’ is Wordsworth’s great autobiographical poem.he began it in 1799 but it was published after his death.
It can be considered a critique of the corruption caused by the Industrial Revolution. It views the modern condition as dangerous and thus is a celebration of nature.
Literary Context: A key Romantic poet, Wordsworth advocated the ideals of liberty and the belief that individuals should follow ideals rather than imposed conventions and rules.
Wordsworth uses the innocence of the child as a literary device which encapsulates the Romantic preoccupation with a prelapsarian state of wonder and imaginative possibility.
quote 1: ‘And in the frosty season, when the sun was set’’ what could you say about this?
fricative adverb ‘frosty’ (f sound)
beginning with a connective (and) suggests poem starts in the middle of an event and evokes an excited, childlike/enthusiastic tone
quote 2: ‘a time of rapture’ what could you say about this?
rapture = excessive happiness/ religious ecstasy and joy. Wordsworth believed in Pantheism = belief that God is in nature. So he could be representing his authentic, personal values here.
quote 3: ‘we hiss’d along the polish’d ice’ what could you say about this?
hissed = sibilant, onomatopoeic verb
enjambment creates a sense of breathless excitement
also the fact that it is from the child’s perspective is interesting because they would have usually been oppressed by society during this time period = giving voice to the voiceless
quote 4: ‘through the darkness and the cold we flew’ what could you say about this?
flew = metaphor as if the children are flying like birds= they are free, not trapped by society flew = also a hyperbolic verb suggests freedom of childhood Romanticism!!! = desire for liberty and Wordsworth was a Romantic poet
quote 5: ‘an alien sound’ what could you say about this?
the hills are personified and nature is becoming discontent
This could suggest a sadness about growing up and losing childhood innocence.
quote 6: ‘the orange sky of evening died away’ what could you say about this?
metaphorically signifies the transition between childhood and adulthood. ‘Orange’ has vibrant connotations and implies that childhood is a joyful time but it cannot last forever.
