The Prelude By William Wordsworth- quote flashcards (by Faith)

William Wordsworth

* Wordsworth was a romantic poet.
* This extract explores the connection between nature and human emotion, and the way human identity and character is shaped by experience
* used to be a poet laureate
* was known to be an early supporter of the French revolution however once it picked up and became very violent, Wordsworth disapproved

form

* Epic poetry- who is the hero, poet? nature?
* blank verse: the poem has no rhyme scheme but is written in iambic pentameter

structure

* extract is one long verse- makes the reader feel overwhelmed by the immensity of the poem.
* readers are literally left breathless
* helps reader to understand the emotions the poet was going through in that moment

“(led by her)”

* ‘her’ is nature being personified
* he didn’t go out to the boat, nature led him
* nature can be seen as female (mother nature) in that it is responsible for the feminine task of creating, sustaining and nurturing life- just as a mother does.
* by using personification, Wordsworth is able to contrast the role of nature to the role of a human- whilst women nurture a single child, nature nurtures an entire planet thus demonstrating it’s superior power.

“i found/ a little boat tied to a willow tree”

* enjambment- overwhelming effect nature has on the child
* he feels almost like he has to furiously blurt out the whole story, no time for punctuation

“act of stealth”

* knows what he is doing is wrong
* first sign of something not being right
* sneaky, covert, secrecy
* he has no though of the consequences of taking boat
* represents the pride of man and society
* society is made of people who are proud and who take what they want from nature, who feel dominant and like they’re the superior aggressor, we can see this through how the child steals the boat with little hesitation

“troubled pleasure”

* oxymoronic phrase shows he has no right to be stealing the boat but feels entitled to enjoy nature, and arrogance of believing he was in control

“her”-

* continues to refer to nature as ‘her’ which could suggest he views himself as equals with nature, which later becomes his downfall when he realises the true power of nature.

“reach a certain point”

* he thinks he controls where he is going despite being lead by nature
* deceived into a sense of control, but nature chose the point as destination where he would be humbled
* this has the larger suggestion that it is only when mankind tries to work against nature that it becomes arduous and laborious.

“heaving through the water”

* the active verb “heaving” connotes sustained, intense physical effort.
* the illusion of control is broken as the mountain rises from the water and natures supremacy becomes apparent.

“upreared it’s end”

* mountain seems to be living with intent- wanted to reveal itself. this phrase also suggests the reader can empathise with the speaker’s anxiety, and it juxtaposes to how nature was working with him at first, but now has turned against him.

“for many days… o’er my thoughts”

* this line suggests the encounter and what he has seen now has irreversibly changed him and his mind- this reflects the immense power nature can have on both society and an individual

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

* The speaker thinks he is in control- reaching his “chosen point” performing an “act of stealth”, but really he is just following nature- controlled by greater force
* applying this to society, Wordsworth may be suggesting how mankind always thinks it is in control but it is always subject to nature. (“huge and mighty forces that do not live like living men”)

“trouble to my dreams”

* nature transcends mankind and it is not bound by time or restrictions of life
* Therefore, nature takes many forms to demonstrate its power and this phrase shows the long term impact nature has on him, this transformative effect could also be considered humbling but haunting

power

* the speaker’s ignorance of the power of nature is manifested in the “darkness” and lack of colour as the speaker has realised that he has been living metaphorically in the dark, so he is naïve and unaware of his own significance.

The prelude vs Kamikaze

* The prelude

man vs nature
* kamikaze

patriotism vs nature
* both speakers are forced to reconsider their perspective on nature
* celebrates/recognises the power and influence of nature.

Ozymandias similarities

* both poems display nature as more powerful than mankind; in Ozymandias, human power is shown as intrinsically weak and transient and lost to time and nature. meanwhile, in the Prelude, failed attempts of mankind to overpower and manipulate a force beyond its control are displayed
* The theme of pride is key in both, it being the cause of the speaker’s eventual fall. They both link to Milton’s paradise Lost in this sense of the ‘fall of man’ and also to epic poetry in general. This links to the irony of statue in desert in the poem Ozymandias

Ozymandias differences

* whilst both poets explore how pride is unfounded because human power is inferior to the power of nature, they present this in different ways. In The prelude, the overwhelming power of nature leads tot the speaker’s loss of eloquence and how he becomes unable to define his world. On the other hand, in Ozymandias, this power is conveyed through the symbolism of the desert and time.