Extract from "the Prelude" by William Wordsworth

When was William Wordsworth born?

1770-1850

What was Wordsworth's family life like?

-Troubled relationship with parents & relatives

-His mother and father died by the time he reached his early teens (William+siblings split apart)

What were Wordsworth's interests as a youth?

-He embraced nature

-An early supporter of the French Revolution, though he was disillusioned with the violence

What type of poet was Wordsworth?

-A romantic poet

-Poet Laureate

Where is "The Prelude" from?

Taken from "The Prelude" or "The Growth of a Poet's Mind" (autobiographical poem)

"The Prelude" is the first part of an intended three-part epic poem titled "The Recluse"

What is "The Recluse"?

-he only completed parts 1 and 2

-He began writing it at 28 years old and worked on it till his death

-Published by wife 3 months later

How is the format of "The Prelude" significant?

In "The Prelude", the format followed was chosen to present an experience from Wordsworth's past, then explore its philosophical importance, relating it to nature and wider society.

How did Wordsworth see the theme of the poem?

Wordsworth described the theme of the poem as presenting "views of Man, Nature and Society"

What was the Enlightenment?

-came before Romanticism (1650s to 1780s)

-Focused on realistic poems which instructed people

It was a time of scientific developments and rationalism

-The French Revolution itself was influenced by the Enlightenment, with its overthrow of the monarch and striving for political freedom

What did Wordsworth think of the French Revolution?

Wordsworth was an early supporter of the French Revolution, but as it devolved into bloodshed and chaos, it revealed the evil of mankind

How was the French Revolution significant for the whole (literary) world?

-Society was suddenly very aware of the innate evil in us as humans and it was no longer popular to write poetry which criticised society

-It was felt that any poetry which promoted any kind of uprising should be squashed down

-A shift was needed to move away from this

-Romanticism came to directly oppose Enlightenment poetry

How was Romanticism introduced?

-Wordsworth is of the first generation of Romantic poets

-Romanticism returned to the power of the imagination

What are the key themes of romanticism?

-Included a dislike of urban life and an embrace of the natural world (a reaction to the effects of the Industrial Revolution)

-A love of the supernatural

-Use of ordinary, everyday language

What is the overview of the poem?

-"The boat stealing episode", a true story taking place in the Lake District about Wordsworth as a young boy stealing a rowing boat and rowing out onto the lake

-What begins as an exciting joyride soon turns nasty as Wordsworth fixes his eyes on a huge mountain, terrified, he turns back and is harassed for days by the memory of the event

What is the form of "The Prelude"?

Epic Poem

What is Milton's "Paradise Lost"?

-published in 1667Tells the story of Adam and Eve's temptation and fall

-Huge influence of "The Prelude", as we see a lot of Milton's influence on the poem

-the major event is the fall of man

What is an "Epic Poem"?

-A form of poetry full of exciting adventures and heroic feats

-In an Epic Poem, the speaker tells a long story about heroic acts (usually legendary or historical)

-One example is Milton's "Paradise Lost"

-In Epic poems, there is usually one major event though "The Prelude" does not do this (covers a whole lifetime of events)

What is the major event in "The Prelude" (Epic Poem)?

-Could argue the major event is the spiritual growth of the poet

-The awakening and understanding of the power of nature could be seen as such an important moment in the poet's life, he felt it was deserving of its inclusion in the Epic Poem, though who is the hero?

-The scared boy isn't heroic, possibly, the hero is nature (personified)

Where is there a literary reference to Milton's poem?

-"Paradise Lost" ends with the line "The world was all before them"

-Early in "The Prelude", Wordsworth writes "the earth is all before me", a clear literary reference to Milton's poem

-As Milton ends with Adam and Eve being cast out of Eden and into the fallen world, Wordsworth begins within that fallen world

What is blank verse?

Blank verse is when the poem has no rhyme scheme but is written in iambic pentameter

What is iambic pentameter?

-iambic pentameter is lines of ten syllables, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables

-Iambic pentameter is also used in "Paradise Lost"

Why may have Wordsworth been inspired by Milton?

Milton's poetry was growing in popularity at the time to the extent that all lengthy, philosophical poetry was written in blank verse

What is the structure of "The Prelude" like?

-The structure is one long verse

-When reading the poem aloud with no major breaks/pauses, we could argue the reader is overwhelmed by the immensity of the poem; we are left breathless as we read through

What is the effect of the one long verse of the poem?

-The overwhelming aspect reflects how Young Wordsworth felt overwhelmed by his experience with nature

-The structure of one long verse helps the reader to understand and empathise with the poet as he goes through the event. ("Paradise Lost" written in the same way)

Why is the early quote, "Led by her", significant?

-Personification of nature

-Female gender is significant as throughout the poem Wordsworth assigns gender to specific objects.

How can gender in the poem be analysed?

-Masculine "oars", "line", "ridge" and "peak contrast the feminine "Boat", "cave" and "lake"

-Possible to give a Freudian interpretation of the poem, seeing the entire event as a sexual metaphor

How is the naivety of the boy presented?

-It seems the poet didn't intentionally set out to steal a boat; rather he is taken there by nature

-As the poem was probably edited by Wordsworth throughout his lifetime, in some ways, the poem reflects the childlike naivety of young Wordsworth, but in another sense, we see an adult perspective looking back on it

What does the enjambment used suggest?

-The enjambment used suggests an overpowering urge to communicate, an inability to stop and organise your thoughts into a coherent and ordered structure

-Enjambment adds to the sense of the overwhelming effect nature has on the child

How can the early quote, "act of stealth", be analysed?

-Describes the boy unchaining the boat and taking it onto the lake

-connotes furtiveness, suggesting what he is doing is morally wrong

-links to the poem's presentation of man (the pride of man)

How is man presented early in the poem?

-In the opening of the poem, the man is shown as selfish, taking whatever he wants with no thought of the consequences

-The poet's presentation of man is man and, as an extension of man, society is made up of proud people: they take from nature, they feel they are dominant and the aggressor

How is the theme of pride explored throughout the poem?

The boy's pride is ultimately washed away as he is humbled by the mountaintop later in the poem

How is the positive climax described?

"small circles glittering idly in the moon, Until they melted all into one track of sparkling light"

-Deliberately positive imagery

-Give a magical, almost celestial quality to the movement

Why is the positive climax used?

This positivity leads to a greater contrast in the latter lines when things turn sinister

How are present participles used?

from "stepping", "leaving"

to "glittering", "sparkling"

finally "heaving"

-The use of present participles throughout the poem reflects the dramatic shift in mood

-"Glittering" and "sparkling" suggest the climax of positivity

How is man's arrogance presented in the middle of the poem?

"to reach a chosen point with an unswerving line"

The adjective "chosen" is significant as he feels completely in control (arrogance)

What is the significance of the quote "The horizon's utmost boundary"?

-The poet wrongly assumes "the horizon's utmost boundary"

-The true shock shown later in the poem can be seen as self-realisation, that the poet doesn't know everything

-His self-pride is misplaced

What is nature trying to achieve in the poem?

So, what is nature trying to achieve? Nature is trying to show him the problem of what is referred to later in the poem as "the mean and vulgar works of man"

What does bad nature of manking suggest?

-The notion that man is inherently bad leaves the reader open to the idea that nature can have a positive, redemptive impact on mankind

-In essence, man needs to realise there is a power in the world that they cannot control

How is the supernatural seen in the poem?

"She was an elfin pinnace, lustily I dipped my oars into the silent lake"

-The adjective "elfin" imbues a sense of magic to the scene

-The whole experience has taken on the mythical nature so important to epic poetry

-We again see the growing pride of the poet, who now exaggerates the moment in his arrogance

What is the big moment of the poem?

"When [...] a huge peak, black and huge [...] Upreared its head"

volta of the poem

How is sentance structure used in the volta?

"When [...] a huge peak, black and huge [...] Upreared its head"

-The syntactic structure is deliberately prolonged, dragging out the revelation of what's happening (the sentence flows over four lines)

-The delayed reveal heightens the suspense

Why is the lack of pronoun used in the volta significant?

-"its" is significant as the lack of personification used to describe the cliff is the moment he loses his vocabulary and ability to define things as he wants, and no longer has the power with the cliff face, which reflects his shock

-His use of basic vocabulary, "huge peak," and the repetition shows how his expressive vocabulary has deserted him

How is the poet's lack of power at the volta highlighted?

-Contrasts as just a few lines before he uses the simile "like a swan", and the reader watches him regress to merely denoting the situation

How is the poem cyclical?

"stole my way"

-The word "stole" links to the "act of stealth" the boy commits earlier in the poem, making the poem cyclical

-Whereas "stealth" reflected the arrogance of the poet, "stole" suggests his desperation and fear

How is the poet presented as not being able to write at the end?

"There hung a darkness, call it solitude"

-As if he's struggling to describe what happened to him and can't find a word to describe his feelings

-The vague language used at the end juxtaposes the very specific language in the opening half of the poem, highlighting the transition the poet has gone through

How is repetition used at the very end of the poem?

"No familiar shapes remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields"

-repetition of "no" makes the reader aware of the fact the poet now realises there is so much he doesn't know

-The poet is now only able to explain things in terms of what he doesn't know

How is the poem concluded?

-Nature is presented as being powerful and terrifying

-Through man's experience of nature, he's reminded of his lack of importance and superiority in the world

-Nature has control over mankind