Extract from, The Prelude

Question 1

“(led by her)” line 1

Answer 1

• The her being referred to here is earth. It demonstrates earth’s superior power.
• By using personifcation, 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. This further demonstrates its superior power

Question 2

“its usual home” line 3

Answer 2

•Wordsworth uses a lot of description about the theft of the boat. Could be considered an attempt to romanticise, in order to defend his actions.

Question 3

“Troubled pleasure” line 6

Answer 3

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

Question 4

“her” line 8

Answer 4

• continuing to refer to nature using the pronoun “her” could suggest he views himseld as equals with nature, which later becomes his downfall when he realises the true power of nature.

Question 5

“melted all into one track” line 10

Answer 5

• nature provides a comforting unity when the speaker tries to work with it

Question 6

“Proud of his skill” line 12

Answer 6

• shows he knows he has no right to steal a but but feels entitled to enjoying nature.
• he is a representation of humanity- humanity’s pride in its importance and ability

Question 7

“reach a chosen point” line 12

Answer 7

• thinks he controls where he is going despute being led by nature. Deceived into a sense of control but nature chose the point as a 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.

Question 8

“unswerving line” line 13

Answer 8

• Still fixed in a narrow field of vision, he viewed mankind as united with nature- working together with humanity as the dominant power, thus enabling him to manipulate water to his benefit and control his journey to a “chosen point”.

Question 9

“heaving through the water” line 20

Answer 9

• The active verb “heaving” connotes sustained, intense physical effort.
• The illusion of control is broken as the mountain rises from the watee, and nature’s supremacy becomes apparent.

Question 10

“craggy steep till then” line 21, “the horizon’s bound” line 22

Answer 10

• shows that Wordsworth keeps hiding what is being revealed to build tension and suspense and to heighten the reader’s perception of it, so that they know it is important and significant.

Question 11

“Upreared its head” line 24

Answer 11

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

Question 12

“I struck and struck again” line 24

Answer 12

• the true power of nature is now being revealed and the speaker is struggling to continue on his journey- nature has ultimate control

Question 13

“like a living thing” line 28, “Strode after me” line 29

Answer 13

Use of simile here could imply that the speaker is now choosing t9 personify nature but to abive his level; as something other-wordly. The verb “strode” is very bold and implies a lot of strength, demonstrating the power of the mountain

Question 14

“stole my way” line 30

Answer 14

• mirrors his actions earliee in the poem when he initially decides to steal the boat he uses to go and see the mountain- but he has no reversed roles with nature

Question 15

“covert of the willow tree” lines 31

Answer 15

• The speaker is showing a desire to return to somewhere he finds more familiar, perhaps suggesting how much the incident has frightened him.

Question 16

“for many days” line 35

Answer 16

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

Question 17

“There hung a darkness” line 38

Answer 17

• he has realises his own ignoramce, seemingly he is in the daek and has limited understanding of the extent ans power of nature

Question 18

“solitude Or blank desertion” line 38-39

Answer 18

• he is alone and has realised his insignificance in the face of nature

Question 19

“But huge and might forms, that do not Like living men” line 42-43

Answer 19

• 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 a greater force.
• Applying this to society, Wordsworth may be suggesting hiw mankind always thinks it is in control but it is always subject to nature.

Question 20

“trouble to my dreams” line 44

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Perspective

Answer 21

• the poem reveals many personal details of Wordsworth’s life which is emphasised by first person narration and the use of paste tense
• Wordsworth also uses many present participles for description, e.g, “leaving”, “sparkling, “glittering”. Through blurring past and present, Wordsworth shows the reader how this experience has shaped how he lives and views the world.

Question 22

Structure

Answer 22

• epic poem: it can be argued that the “hero” of the poem is not Wordsworth but nature personified.
• stanza structure: the entire extract is a single stanza which emphasises the overwhelming power of nature. This is heightened because there are no breaks or pauses which causes the reader to feel breathless. It’s also intensified by frequent enjambment and connectives that prevent the reader from pausing, inciting a sense of vastness in the reader by making the poem feel endless.
• Parallelism: Wordsworth uses parallelism in his poem to contrast how the speaker was before and after the revelation of nature’s power. This highlights how the experience has acted as a catalyst in his development.
• Cyclical structure: Wordsworth employs a cyclical structure in his poem to emphasisw that the change that took place during the journey was internal and psychological rather than external and physical. It begins and ends in the mooring of the boat. Despite starting and finishing in the same place, there are subtle changes shown through Wordsworth’s use of a linguistic echo. When the speakee sets out in his stolen boat it is “an act of stealth” then when he returned home he “stole my way back to the covert of the willow tree”
• emjambment: wordsworth’s use of this device make the poem flow but also gives a sense of lack of control from the lack of structure. Makes the poem feel like a stream of consciousness

Question 23

Language

Answer 23

• loss of eloquence: at the start of the poem the language isnpoetic and descriptive, such as “elfin pinnace” and “small circles glittering idly”. However, the revelation of nature’s true power renders him speechless and his descriptions become more simplistic. He repeats the adjective “huge” at the beginning and end of “a huge peak, black and huge” to compensate for his vocabulary. Wordsworth’s description focuses on simple statments of size and colour. This shock at the limits of his world being redefined- the “craggy ridge” is no longer the “horizon’s bound”- is reflected by his inabikity to continue to define the world with his language.
• repetition: the repetition of “huge” also emphasises the sheer size of the mountain. Perhaps Wordsworth couldn’t think of a comparison to show how big the mountain is as it is incomparable. The repetition slunds like stuttering, which may suggwst he is nervous and intimidated in the face of such raw power.