3: The Prelude - William Wordsworth

a little boat tied to a willow tree

idlyc, little, serene

it was an act of stealth and troubled pleasure

quick, precise, troubled vs stealth oxymoron

small circles glittering idly in the moon/ sparkling light

tranquil, riches - valuable (quote)

proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point with an unswerving line, I fixed my view

certainty and confidence (quote)

I fixed my view upon the summit of a craggy ridge

ugly, unimpressive (quote)

she was an elfin pinnace

idyllic, supernatural, fantasy (quote)

silent lake

tranquil, personification (quote)

went heaving through the water like a swan

simile emphasise contrast, reality vs fantasy

when, from behind that craggy steep

volta - shift in tone fantasy to nightmare

a huge peak, black and huge

repetition - emphasis, bad description = awed

upreared its head. I struck and struck again

personification, monster, violence

with purpose of its own and measured motion like a living thing

simile, personification, breaking his fantasy with the idea of something else’s free will

with trembling oars

pride is gone, uncertain

dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being

doesn’t know what’s real; there are things going on he’s unaware of (mountain’s free will)

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

can’t trust what he sees, uncertain, fantasy broken, repetition

moved slowly through the mind by day, and were a trouble to my dreams

haunts him, supernatural, monster