The Prelude Flashcards
Straight I unloosed her chain
When in line four Wordsworth says ‘I unloosened her chain’, personifying the boat, this could indicate a familiarity, perhaps almost spiritual relationship between man and boat.
“It was an act of stealth And troubled pleasure”
Wordsworth uses an oxymoron to show how he found his environment intimidating yet beautiful. It is so beautiful and overwhelming that he feels as if he is trespassing, perhaps on nature’s secrets.It suggests mankind is selfish and ‘proud’ of taking from nature, which is truly dominant and overpowering. Man, however, is arrogant and over-confident.
Themes + “ solitude Or blank desertion”
The poet is conscious of his limitations; of loneliness and spiritual nullity. He now feels isolated. The lonely human being in the face of overwhelming nature is one of the themes of the Prelude.
