The Prelude: Stealing the Boat- William Wordsworth

Question 1

describe what is happening

Answer 1

• extract begins on a summer evening when narrator finds boat tied to tree. He unties boat and takes out on lake
• initially narrator seems happy and confident, and he describes a beautiful scene. Mountain appears on horizon and he afraid of its size and power
• turns boat around and goes home, but view of nature changed

Question 2

describe the form

Answer 2

• first-person narrative
• sounds personal and describes turning point in poet’s life
• use of blank verse makes it sound serious and important
• regular rhyme scheme makes sound like natural speech

Question 3

describe the structure

Answer 3

• 3 main sections
• 1st section tone fairly light and carefree
• distinct change when mountain appears-tone becomes darker and more fearful
• final section, narrator reflects on how experience has changed him

Question 4

describe the beautiful language

Answer 4

poem begins with series of pretty, pastoral images of nature

Question 5

describe the confident language

Answer 5

narrator appears sure of himself at first - almost arrogant in his view of himself and his place in the world. He gives impression of feeling powerful

Question 6

describe dramatic language

Answer 6

initial glimpses of threatening language become more intense after mountain appears. Narrator comes to understand how powerful nature is

Question 7

describe fearful language

Answer 7

narrator far less confident at end of extract, he troubled by the “huge and mighty forms” of nature he glimpsed. Experience has lasting, haunting effect on him

Question 8

describe the feeling and attitude of confidence

Answer 8

narrator feels comfortable and in control to start with, but his confidence in himself and world around him is shaken by one event

Question 9

describe the feeling and attitude of fear

Answer 9

nature shown to be more powerful than human being. Narrator left with a feeling of awe and respect for nature, but he’s also scared by it

Question 10

describe the feeling and attitude of reflection

Answer 10

poem ends with narrator reflecting on how he been changed by the event. His thoughts and dreams are still troubled by what he’s experienced

Question 11

“(led by her)”

Answer 11

unclear who ‘her’ is. An earlier part of poem suggests it’s nature, personified

Question 12

“a little boat tied to a willow tree”

Answer 12

happy, rural image

Question 13

“its usual home”

Answer 13

seems familiar to him

Question 14

“straight I”

Answer 14

narrator appears confident

Question 15

“act of stealth”

Answer 15

narrator knows he’s doing something wrong- this is first clue tat something isn’t quite right

Question 16

“troubled pleasure”

Answer 16

oxymoron hints at narrators guilt

Question 17

“Leaving” “still” “small” “until” “melted all” “light”

Answer 17

succession of “l” sounds helps poem flow, like the boat moving gently across the lake

Question 18

“proud of his skill” “with an unswerving line”

Answer 18

again, narrator seems confident, maybe a bit arrogant. This contrasts with mood later in poem

Question 19

“The horizon’s utmost boundary; far above was nothing but the stars and the grey sky”

Answer 19

this emptiness contrasts with line 22, when he looks at horizon again. This makes appearance of mountain more shocking

Question 20

“she was an elfin pinnace”

Answer 20

metaphor of ‘a fairy boat’ makes scene seem magical and otherworldly, but still not threatening

Question 21

“like a swan;”

Answer 21

natural simile shows that he’s confident and in control- enhances contrast with next line

Question 22

“when,”

Answer 22

turning-point (Volta) introduces a complete change in tone. Simple word emphasised by being at start of line and by the caesura

Question 23

“the horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge,”

Answer 23

a mountain appears on horizon. Very different language now- darker and more threatening

Question 24

“Upreared its head”

Answer 24

mountain personified. Ugly image- contrast to earlier beautiful images of the boat

Question 25

“i struck and struck again, and growing still in stature”

Answer 25

as narrator rows away from mountain, more and more of it comes into view. This means it seems like mountain is getting bigger, and makes this sound like a nightmare

Question 26

“stars” “still” “so” “seemed”

Answer 26

the repetition of sibilant sounds creates a sinister mood

Question 27

“purpose of its own” “measured motion” “strode after me”

Answer 27

mountain is calm, powerful and in control- contrasts with narrators fear

Question 28

“stole” “covert”

Answer 28

he’s afraid and guilty, and wants to hide away- he feels like an intruder

Question 29

“in grave and serious mood”

Answer 29

event has big impact on him- ‘grave’ means serious, but may also be reminder of his own mortality

Question 30

“for many days”

Answer 30

the impact was log lasting

Question 31

“dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being”

Answer 31

vague language shows that narrator doesn’t understand what he’s seen- he’s struggling to describe it

Question 32

“there hung a darkness, call it solitude

Answer 32

the narrator is left feeling alone and unsettled

Question 33

“no pleasant images of trees of sea or sky”

Answer 33

narrator no longer thinks of nature in terms of pretty images- he’s learnt there’s more to it than that

Question 34

“but huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men”

Answer 34

nature is described as a powerful, conscious being that can influence our lives

Question 35

“trouble to my dreams”

Answer 35

unsettling image- helps us to empathise with him. Huge contrast to tone and mood at start

Question 36

context

Answer 36

is an extract from first of fourteen books that make up Wordsworth’s poem, ‘The Prelude’. Book is entitled ‘Introduction-Childhood and School-Time’. Wordsworth was ‘Romantic’ poet. extract explore connection between nature and human emotion, and way human identity and character shaped by experience