The Prelude - William Wordsworth

Question 1

when was this poem published?

Answer 1

1850

Question 2

themes?

Answer 2

• power - the power of nature over humans
• nature
• love - the persona loves and enjoys being in nature
• time - about a time in Wordsworth’s life
• place - about how a persona interacts with their surroundings
• man
• death - the metaphorical death of innocence or the end of childhood

Question 3

poet context

Answer 3

• lived between 1770 and 1850
• an English poet who lived in rural areas such as the Lake District
• had a distant relationship with his father
• his mother died when he was 7 or 8
• he had four siblings and was particularly close with his sister, Dorothy, who was a year younger than him
• he was sent to boarding school
• he lived with his maternal grandparents and uncle in rural Cumbria; he did not get on with them and contemplated suicide
• Wordsworth spent a lot of time outdoors and believed nature could be like a parent or teacher
• was a Romantic poet
• he loved to ice skate, and learned how to do it on Esthwaite lake
• he started to write ‘The Prelude’ in his 20s and he never finished it, even though its 14 books long and was autobiographical
• it focuses on Wordsworth’s childhood and relationship with nature
• ‘The Prelude’ is subtitled ‘the growth of a poet’s mind’