the prelude

Question 1

“i heeded not the summons”

Answer 1

refusion to go back home - reflective of his utter adoration towards nature and his youthful enthusiasm and excitement, perhaps symbolic of his disliking towards his grandparents at home in which he used being outside in nature as a escape

Question 2

“i wheel’d about”

Answer 2

verb signifies freedom and youth - implies an almost effortless movement in which is reflective of his carefree attitude and profound energy. Narrator is portrayed to be energetic and excitable

Question 3

“was set”

Answer 3

reflective of the shortness of days, reflective of poets childlike nature in which days seem short when having immense fun

Question 4

“through the twilight blaz’d”

Answer 4

noun twilight refers to time between daylight and darkness - implying a mystery. verb “blaz’d” suggests an intense heat or gleam in which emits through the darkness symbolic of how nature is his hope in the darkness

Question 5

“time of rapture”

Answer 5

noun “rapture” suggests intense ecstasy and in which holds biblical connotations. Rapture alludes to end of time and going to heaven, reflecting how this time is heavenly for him.

Question 6

“hiss’d along the polished ice”

Answer 6

while sibiliance reinforces the swishing sound of the children skating, it also provides an increase in pace of the poem perhaps creating a slightly more sinister undertone

Question 7

“precipes rang aloud”

Answer 7

romantic poet - uses personification to illustrate the experience of the sublime, emulating the overwhelming nature and immensity nature possesses.

Question 8

“orange sky of evening died away”

Answer 8

deliberately last line of poem - calming but perhaps melancholic ending, the sun has set ending a immensely joyous day but also metaphorically reflects Wordsworth childhood, a time of security and comfort coming to end

Question 9

the prelude poet

Answer 9

william wordsworth

Question 10

context for the prelude

Answer 10

romantic poet
lived in lake district
mother + father died at young age
forced to live with grandparents - disliked them so used nature as an escape

Question 11

prelude structure

Answer 11

blank verse + enjambment - regular rhythm imitates the sound of natural speech
lack of rhyme scheme - freedom and carefree attitude of the children