Extract from The Prelude Flashcards
(13 cards)
1
Q
Who is The Prelude by?
A
William Wordsworth
2
Q
What is the structure of The Prelude?(3)
A
- Blank verse(unrhymed iambic pentameter)
- Enjambment
- Lack of breaks
3
Q
What does the blank verse(unrhyming iambic pentameter) show?
A
- Mirrors natural speech - personal and reflective poem
- Memories unfold naturally
4
Q
What does the enjambment show?
A
- Continuous flow of lines - fluidity of thought, unstoppable force of nature
- Momentum and intensity = like rowing and eventual panic
5
Q
What does the lack of stanza breaks show?
A
- Mimics the overwhelming experience
- No room to pause, nature taking over
6
Q
What are the themes of The Prelude?(3)
A
- Power of nature
- Human pride & arrogance
- Conflict between man and nature
7
Q
How is the theme of power of nature shown?
A
- Nature is presented as awe-inspiring, terrifying
- Nature teaches the boy humility and fear
8
Q
How is the theme of human pride & arrogance shown?
A
- At first Wordsworth - rows confidently believing he can control nature
- Pride is shattered by nature’s vastness
9
Q
How is the theme of conflict between man and nature shown?
A
- At first the relationship is harmonious “glittering idly in the moon” but later it turns threatening
- Suggests nature cannot be dominated, only respected
10
Q
“It was an act of stealth and troubled pleasure”
A
- Oxymoron = “troubled preasure” = guilt and joy combined
- Moral conflict - realisation that taking from nature without respect is wrong
- Sets tone for poem = pleasure turns to punishment
11
Q
“The grim shape towered up between me and stars”
A
- Personification of the mountain as something living and threatening
- “towered” sense of dominance, blocks out the heavens cutting him off from comfort or guidance
- “stars” reinforces his insignificance
- Mountain becomes a symbol of the sublime - describing something so vast it evokes awe and terror
12
Q
“There hung a darkness, call it solitude or blank desertion”
A
- Abstract imagery=”darkness” “solitude” “desertion”
- Shift to vague language suggests how deeply shaken he is - can’t even fully describe it
- Nature leaves psychological scar
13
Q
What is the context for The Prelude?(4)
A
- Romantic poet - valued
- Believed in spiritual power of nature
- Nature as a moral teacher=moment from his youth when he first felt the power and fear of the natural world
- Nature punishes human arrogance and replaces it with humility
