the prelude

Question 1

language devices and effect

Answer 1

positive imagery, presents his sense of power whilst rowing - ‘circles glittering’ and ‘sparkling light’ give a celestial feel to the moment
ego and sense of power is growing through the way he describes the boat - began as a ‘little boat’ to an ‘elfin pinnace’, adjective ‘elfin’ gives a magical feel - he is feeling omnipotent
simile ‘like a swan’ adds to this sense of power
opening of the poem is rich in imagery and figurative language showing his feeling of power

‘huge peak black and huge… upread its head’ - shift in language use shows he is in such a shock that he regresses to a simplistic defenition of what he sees. repetition of ‘huge’, clunky and doesnt flow well, this is deliberate for effect, speakers confidence has left him, highlights the impact, drained him of all power, realised nature is truly powerful

Question 2

structural devices and effect

Answer 2

structured as one whole stanza - when the poem is read with no major breaks we are overwhelmed, this mirrors how young wordsworth was owverwhelmed

enjambemant - first sentence flows over 3 l;ines - overpowring urge to communicate, inability to express his thoughts
much like one whole stanza the emjambment, shows the overwhekleming efefct nature has on humans

repetition of ‘no’, shows speakers pride has vanished only explain things what he doesnt know instead of what he does

Question 3

powerful quotes

Answer 3

‘act of stealth’ - he is selfish with no thought of the consequences, the word stealth has connotations sneaky and sly

Question 4

contextual points

Answer 4

takes place in the lake district
nature personified as her
he is delighted with himself but then gets frightened for days by the large mountain
romantic poetry - dislike of urban life and embrace of the natural world

Question 5

form

Answer 5

epic poem - focuses on heroic character usually - usually one main event - prelude covers a lifetime of events but the main event can be seen as the spiritual growth of the poet, he describes why he is a poet - there are also some historical events, awakening and understanding of the power of the nature made the poet feel it needed to be included, not necessarily the poet is the hero but nature personified is the hero

Question 6

what to compare

Answer 6

storm on the island