Poetry Anthology - Prelude

Question 1

Key themes

Answer 1

Time
Nature
Memory

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

Caesura (lines 5-8) - creates pauses mid line - narrator is thinking and excited about the memories
Turning point ‘meanwhile’ - shift
Sibilance (lines 16-19) - reflects that nature is echoing children’s sounds back at them
Enjambment

Question 3

Key quotes (11)

Answer 3

‘Frosty season’ and ‘twilight blaz’d’
‘Wheel’d about’
‘Untir’d horse!
‘Resounding horn’ and ‘bellowing
‘The pack’
‘Meanwhile’
‘Tinkled’
‘Of melancholy not unnoticed!
‘The orange sky of evening died away’

Question 4

Analyse ‘frosty season’ and ‘twilight blaz’d’

Answer 4

‘Frosty season’ - the narrator straight away introduces a wintery scene to the reader
CONTRASTS WITH
‘Twilight blaz’d’ - light of the cottage echoes the setting sun - sense of light and warmth

Question 5

Analyse ‘wheel’d about’

Answer 5

Emphasises the narrator is fast, energetic and excitable

Question 6

Analyse ‘Untir’d horse”

Answer 6

Simile
Associates the narrator with strength and nature

Question 7

Analyse ‘resounding horn’, ‘bellowing’ and ‘tinkled’

Answer 7

‘Resounding horn’ and ‘bellowed’ - sounds of humans are loud, familiar and boisterous
Later on in the poem:
‘Tinkled’ - onomatopoeia is softer than the human sounds - suggests nature is otherworldly

Question 8

Analyse ‘the pack’

Answer 8

Animal imagery
Suggests they are wild and energetic

Question 9

Analyse ‘meanwhile’

Answer 9

Turning point
Shift focus from people to nature

Question 10

Analyse ‘of melancholy not unnoticed’

Answer 10

‘Of melancholy’ - enjambment creates emphasis on ‘melancholy’ which contrasts with the narrators previous feelings
Double negative - suggests humans do notice the sounds of nature, but don’t understand them - complexity

Question 11

Analyse ‘the orange sky of evening died away’

Answer 11

Marks the transition from innocence to experience, portraying natures power to both nurture and unsettle
‘Orange’ - symbolise warmth/comfort reflecting the speakers initial harmony with nature
‘Died away’ - sense of loss of innocence and harmony

Question 12

Context

Answer 12

Romantic poet - believed in the power of nature
Autobiographical poem - about how nature shaped his growth
Grew up in the Lake District - place of natural beauty