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“One summer evening (led by her)”
Wordsworth creates a peaceful, calm and relaxed tone from the beginning of the poem, as seen in ‘summer’, a time of relaxation and enjoyment. He personifies nature through a reference to ‘led by her’, which suggests that he is under the control of nature, although the safe tone is maintained. Immediately, more power has been given to nature than mankind, however this is not a threat or aggressive in any way. Nature is a mixture of providing comfort and controlling the power at the start of the poem.
“It was an act of stealth/and troubled pleasure”
The oxymoron ‘troubled pleasure’ indicates that Wordsworth found his surroundings intimidating yet beautiful, leading him to feel fear that he is trespassing on nature’s secrets. This also suggests that he took pride in taking from nature in arrogance and over-confidence. Mankind has taken back some power as he stole the boat and was performing in a mission of ‘stealth’.
“The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge”
This is the Volta, when the poem takes on a tone of suspense and threat presented by the previously gentle nature, giving it an unpredictable quality. Nature emerges as the most powerful force in this scene, causing Wordsworth considerable distress as he repeats his description of the mountain as ‘huge’, presenting the effects of the power of nature as being psychological, so that he cannot compose a syntactically sound sentence. There are cacophonic sounds with the ‘ck’ and ‘b’ repeated. This suggests dominance through the heavy sounds that Wordsworth can hardly speak.
“There hung a darkness, call it solitude/or blank desertion”
There is ambiguous description throughout this section of the poem, revealing the poet’s struggle to describe nature, a force that he mistakenly thought he had previously understood. The ‘darkness’ that surrounds him contrasts the earlier light imagery, suggesting that he can no longer see pleasure in life, only destruction and evil. Wordsworth experiences what he perceives as ‘solitude’ and ‘desertion’ by those around him - the unwanted isolation contradicts the pervious enjoyment he took from being alone and surrounded in nature, objectifying it as it has become a heavy and physical presence in his life. Although earlier comforted by nature, he now feels abandoned and betrayed by it, despite it still surrounding him.
Wordsworth’s purpose
Wordsworth suggests that humanity should appreciate and respect nature and not take it for granted, like he did as a child.
Context
As a Romantic poet, Wordsworth often explored nature around him and human emotion - although at this point in his childhood, it took a turn for the worse. Extract from The Prelude is part of the much larger, 14-book poem called The Prelude.
The Sublime is a Romantic idea that encompasses all things that are overwhelming and beyond human comprehension, including nature itself.
Themes
Transience of power
Power of memory
Power of nature
Psychological conflict
Conflict between nature and humans
Comparison
Storm on the Island:
both poets explore the effects of the power of nature over people and the perceived loss of power that this causes
Similarity: both poets explore how the power of nature affects people
Difference: in Storm on the Island, nature causes a physical loss of power as the people are unable to escape, while in the Prelude, Wordsworth is affected by the power of nature psychologically as he doesn’t understand what he witnessed
