The Prelude, William Wadsworth Flashcards
“The Prelude”
A sort of introduction relating to the theme of time.
Wordsworth childhood.
The poem opens with imagery to do with winter, such as “frosty”.
Suggests the premature end of a wintery day. Images of warmth, such as “blaz’d” and “the sun” are contrasted with this.
The use of verbs such as “wheel’d”, “hiss’d” and “flew”.
Such rapid movement, while the noun “rapture” suggests the intense enjoyment of the boys skating on the lake.
Use of sibilance in “leafless trees and every ice crag”
Nature is responding to the children by making the same noise as them, yet it sounds sinister.
“Alien sound of melnacholy”
Suggests a strangeness and unfamiliarity - the persona no longer feels comfortable in nature.
Negative tone used to further reinforce this.
Use of enjambment suggests the change of feeling is both strong and unusual for the persona.
“The orange sky of evening died away”
This metaphorically represents loss of innocence.
Structure
Wordsworth uses a continuous, flowing structure in The Prelude to reflect the speaker’s emotional journey from confidence to fear and ultimately to reflection and awe.
As the tone shifts and the speaker becomes overwhelmed by the power of nature, the rhythm becomes heavier and more fragmented, with longer, more reflective lines and use of caesura (pauses within lines) to show hesitation, fear, and deep thought.
