The Prelude : Poem Anthology

“I wheel’d about..”

“Like an unstir’d horsw that cares not for his home.”

The verb wheel’d shows us the circular movement of Wordsworth on the ice and his speed

He is proud of his skills on the ice

He uses a childlike boastful tone throughout

Wheel’d about suggests a lack of purpose showing us he was simply a child enjoying his time, he had no specific goal except to have fun

Unstir’d horse shows his bountiful energy and playfulness

He is rebellious and has childhood naivety and enjoys the independence

Reflective of his childlike wonder as he simply chooses to have fun as a child

“The resounding horn the pack.”

“Loud bellowing and the hunted hare.”

Wordsworth compares the games the group play to a hunt

Illustrates the excitement and thrill of the game, the metaphor of the pack show the children’s free spirited nature

Like wild animals acting on instinct, the children are free

Wordsworth sees the violence of nature showing a growing awareness to life’s brutality

He presents the idea that nature is beautiful but also harsh

This can be seen as he speaks of growing up which is a beautiful but also complex and harsh experience

“We flew”

The word flew here shows the exiliration and enjoyment of the children

They feel so excited they are almost flying as they enjoy their youth

It shows how fast they are moving on the ice

Demonstrates the freedom of childhood innocence and the naivety the children are encompassed with

The group feel on top of the world and enjoy their childhood

In almost a yearning sense, Wordsworth reflects on his short lived childhood innocence despite the adversity he faced when his mother died when he was 7 and through the social ostriscation he faced

He longs for blissful childhood ignorance to return

“An alien sound [..] while the stars..”

“Were sparkling clear and in the west the orange sky.”

We see the beauty of the stars which sparkle clear as sunset fades

He is infatuated and mesmerised by the beauty of nature and his childhood to an idyllic point

Reflective of how he views his childhood as mesmerising

However, night is beginning to draw in and his childhood he longs for is beginning to end

The word alien shows the sublime perfectly as the perfect power of nature makes it a suoernatural force

Wordsworth states that the sound of the hills was not unnoticed

He knew his youth was coming to an end which shows he feels it as a threat

Life outside of his idyllic childhood is foreign like an alien to him

The poem ends with the unsettling message that night is coming and darkness is embodying the ice rink

The final sinister tone represents adulthood to come and the fading of childhood innocence as you become aware of the world around you