Summary
AQA Extract from: The Prelude Poem Summary
Colour coded summary of Extract from: The Prelude with context, analysis and methods annotations.
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methods context message/analysisExtract from: The Prelude
● Prelude is something that introduces something else
An introduction to nature or his first time experiencing nature
● The extract is written in blank verse (as used in Shakespeare plays) this gives the
experience as shape, containing its emotional content, but at the same time sounds
natural and almost conversational.
● This naturalness is achieved partly by Wordsworth’s use of enjambment, for example
in the opening two lines rather than end-stopped lines.
One summer evening (led by her) I found
● The verb ‘led’ suggests nature is leading and manipulating him
● He's powerless, submissive and innocent
● Subtle - has already mentioned nature previously
● Mother nature was more of a maternal figure to him
● Women were seen as vulnerable and fragile just like nature
● Sexual attraction ‘lustily’ of nature
A little boat tied to a willow tree
● Enjambment is used to show he’s unaware of what he's saying.
● Allows him to speak freely and constantly process his thoughts and reflects on them
○ He is rambling on
■ Stream of conscious
Within a rocky cove, its usual home.
● The noun home is used for personifying the boat's place
● This objectivity juxtaposes the subjectivity of his thoughts on nature
● The noun “home” suggest he is disrupting the peace of the bear
● Exposing something that it's not prepared for
Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in
● Verb stepping in suggests he is freeing himself
○ This is the beginning of the poem so he's naive and is releasing his naivety
● Stepping his further emphases how naive he is.
● He is unaware of the consequences
Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth
● However, this is idea is juxtaposed from “it was an act of stealth”
● Now he is becoming aware of what he ha just done
● And there is no undoing or going back
● The caesura suggests he is cutting off his naivety
And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice
Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on;
● Vague - who is in control? Mother nature or him?
● Sense of uncertainty
, methods context message/analysis
Leaving behind her still, on either side,
Small circles glittering idly in the moon,
Until they melted all into one track
Of sparkling light. But now, like one who rows,
Proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point
● The adjective proud suggests he is satisfied but also he is arrogant.
● He is pleased with his ability
● He is now in control doing it with purpose
With an unswerving line, I fixed my view
Upon the summit of a craggy ridge,
The horizon’s utmost boundary; far above
● The summit could represent the highest end of his maturity
● The noun “Boundary” describes how vast the natural scenery is
● Horizon which has connotations of everlasting and no end is juxtaposed with the
noun “boundary”- limited and finite
● He feels small by the vast nature around him
● Even though he has a small boat he was still able to control his boat
● So he has the ability to control nature
● Feels powerful
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.
● “Stars and grey sky” add a sense of tranquillity and peace despite the thrill and
overwhelming power he has gained
She was an elfin pinnace; lustily
I dipped my oars into the silent lake,
And, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat
Went heaving through the water like a swan;
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