Extract from the Perlude Flashcards
(11 cards)
“A little boat tied to a willow tree” & “I unloosed her chain”
Personification - mother nature, describing as a stereotypical women in 1800’s (delicate & little)
“small circles glittering idly in the moon”
Gives the idea of a women with beauty and calmness/peaceful
type of poet
Romantic poet
Mountains - conflict
The fact Wordsworth is so affected by something which cannot harm him suggests that he is experiencing a conflict between emotion and reason
Mountains - metaphor
Wordsworth uses the mountain as a metaphor for trauma because he cannot forget the impact it has on him
“moved slowly through the mind
By day, and were a trouble to my dreams”
the strength the memory has and the power of nature’s effect on his psyche. He is reflecting on the power of emotion to evoke memory
Language
Figurative language - non-literal meaning
“huge” “black”
The tone shifts and he starts describing his discomfort
“like a swan”
elegant but strong
“She was an elf pinnace”
The term ‘elfin pinnace’ could be translated as ‘fairy boat’ a metaphor for the now heated mood of the poet. Elves were often viewed as sexual and lustful
Poem’s tone
The poem changes from euphony to a cacophony
