the prelude- william wordsworth

Question 1

analyse the title

Answer 1

• excerpt- context: part of a wider collection about his childhood
• prelude- a sort of introduction- could relate to the theme of time (youthfulness and innocence)

Question 2

analyse:
And in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d,
I heeded not the summons:- happy time

Answer 2

• use of the conjunction ‘And’ to begin the poem immediately suggests a continuation, as though we have missed something previous, but nevertheless, something happy, energetic and vivacious
• bright lights of the cottage echo the setting sun- sense of light and warm
• contrast between cold (‘frosty’) and heat (‘blaz’d’) suggests nature and the domestic are incompatible- CONTEXT: he felt unhappy at his grandparents house, even contemplated suicide
• enjambment emphasises ‘Was set’- foreshadows the idea of things ending
• deliberate use of the first person plural ‘we’ and its possessive, ‘us’- details the ‘rapture’ it was not just for himself, but the ‘confederate’

Question 3

analyse:
I heeded not the summons:- happy time
It was, indeed, for all of us; to me
It was a time of rapture: clear and loud
The village clock toll’d six; I wheel’d about,
Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse,
That cares not for his home.- All shod with steel,

Answer 3

• caesura could represent the joy shared (passion, excitement and breathlessness) but interestingly, Wordsworth is keen to highlight that his own sense of joy exceeds those around him
• positive tone reflects persona’s love for and enjoyment of nature- explicitly says ‘happy time’- simple adjective emphasises that it is nothing but
• starting line with ‘Proud’ highlights narrators carefree and confident attitude
• simile associates narrator with strength, youthful energy and nature- sense of freedom (CONTEXT: Industrial revolution, machines used instead of horses)
• ‘wheel’d’ emphasises that the narrator is fast, energetic and excitable
• feels liberated by his childhood

Question 4

analyse:
That cares not for his home.- All shod with steel,
We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games
Confederate, imitative of the chace
And woodland pleasures, the resounding horn,
The Pack loud bellowing and the hunted hare.

Answer 4

• sibilance reflects the sound of ice skating- emphasises the sense of energetic movement
• semantic field of hunting- childhood games are compared to hunting: loud, manic and intrinsically rooted in nature- perhaps he is reflecting on the actual ‘hunt’ being his childhood- CONTEXT: had a distant relationship with his father and mother died when he was 8- forced to grow up and experience adulthood early)
• interesting to note that he compares himself to a ‘horse’ and the group of children to a ‘Pack’ of hunting dogs- suggest they have a close relationship with nature- yet these animals are often domesticated- hints they aren’t truly part of nature

Question 5

analyse:
So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
And not a voice was idle; with the din,
Meanwhile, the precipices rang aloud,

Answer 5

• occurs after the first full stop of the poem- highlights how the tone alters to reflect a psychological introspective perspective of the poet’s voice
• sense of collective voice
• ‘flew’ suggests speed and energy in their movements, uses short, monosyllabic verb to increase poems pace
• ‘Meanwhile’- volta signals a shift in focus from people to nature- nature is set apart from humans
• ‘din’- sounds of the humans are loud, familiar and boisterous which has negative connotations- too loud, too long, too unpleasant

Question 6

analyse:
The leafless trees, and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy, not unnoticed, while the stars,
Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west
The orange sky of evening died away.

Answer 6

• negative tone- shows a change of attitude towards nature
• ‘tinkled like iron’- onomatopoeia,is softer than human sounds- suggest nature’s sounds are otherworldly
• nature is responding to the children by making the same noise as them, yet it sounds sinister- sibilance
• ‘alien sound’ suggests strangeness and unfamiliarity- no longer feels confident in nature- emphasises how it contrasts with the familiar noise of happy children
• ‘not unnoticed’- double negative suggests humans do notice the sounds of nature but don’t fully understand them
• enjambment makes ‘of melancholy’ stand out- change of feeling is both strong and unusual for persona
• caesura slows down pace, makes it more reflective
• pathetic fallacy- innocence and purity of nature is dying away, mimics childhood
• ‘death’ of an evening could represent loss of innocence
• ‘distant hills’ and to the east and west suggests he has become more aware of the vast scale of nature
• the poem ends with hope, affirming nature’s ultimate generosity

Question 7

describe the form of the poem

Answer 7

• first person narrative- adult narrator looking back on his own memories- personal- childhood seems almost idyllic
• use of blank verse and enjambment create a regular rhythm- makes it sound like natural speech

Question 8

describe the structure of the poem

Answer 8

• 2 main sections in the excerpt
• 1st- focus on the fun the children are having, light and carefree tone
• 2nd- distinct change, focus on nature, serious tone, narrator shows a greater awareness

Question 9

context:

Answer 9

• 1778- 1850
• key English Romantic poet
• born in Cumbria, Lake District (had a huge influence on his writing)
• distant relationship with his father, mother died when he was 8, was sent to boarding school
• lived with his maternal grandparents and Uncle- they didn’t get on, he contemplated suicide
• spent a lot of time outdoors, believed nature could be like a parent or teacher
• loved to ice skate, learned how to on Esthwaite lake
• poem is part of an ‘epic poem’- 44 stanzas, part of a bigger narrative, starting writing in his 20s but never finished it even though it is 14 books long
• is autobiographical and focuses on his childhood and relationship with nature

Question 10

key quotes:

Answer 10

• frosty season
• the cottage windows through the twilight blazed
• happy time
• proud and exulting like an untired horse
• woodland pleasures, polished ice, distant hills
• resounding horn, Pack, hunted hare
• meanwhile the precipices rang aloud
• leafless trees, every icy crag, alien sound
• of melancholy, not unnoticed
• the orange sky of evening died away