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The Prelude (1805)
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Story
• The extract begins on a summer evening when the narrator finds a boat tied to a tree.
• He unties the boat and takes it out on the lake.
• Initially the narrator seems happy and confident, and he describes a beautiful scene.
• Later a mountain appears on the horizon and the narrator is afraid of its size and power.
• He turns the boat around and goes home, but his view of nature is now changed.
Structure
• The poem is in three main sections:
1. The excitement of finding the boat – light and carefree tone.
2. The frightening journey – darker, more fearful tone.
3. The reflective epilogue, showing how the experience has changed him.
Form
• This extract is a first-person narrative. It sounds personal and describes a turning point in the poet’s life.
• The use of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) reflects the conversational, reflective tone as well as
the growing freedom felt in the exploration.
• The poem is an epic and an autobiography.
Context
The Prelude:
• It is a long autobiographical epic poem written in 14 sections.
• The first version was written in 1798 but he continued to work on it throughout his lifetime – we are looking at the
1850 version.
• The poem shows the spiritual growth of the poet (its full title is ‘Growth of a poet’s mind'), how he comes to
terms with who he is, and his place in nature and the world.
• Wordsworth lived in the Lake District – where the poem is set – with his sister Dorothy, herself a writer, who is
thought to have had a great influence on his words.
Epics:
• Epics are very long pieces of writing that usually deal with exciting, action-packed heroic events like wars or
explorations (think of ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘The Aeneid’ which tell heroes of Ancient Greece and Rome
respectively).
• Although many of the events Wordsworth writes about are ‘ordinary’, they are given an epic quality, to fully
describe the impact they had on his life.
Romanticism:
• Wordsworth was a Romantic poet (like Blake and Shelley).
• Some key Romantic ideas include a focus on the power of nature, the imagination, and revolution.
• Wordsworth’s Romantic poetry focuses on feelings and emotions, often those provoke by interacting with nature.
• The Romantics believed that nature itself was a kind of divine force, hence the chastisement of the mountain in
this section of the poem.
The Prelude (1805)
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
Story
• The extract begins on a summer evening when the narrator finds a boat tied to a tree.
• He unties the boat and takes it out on the lake.
• Initially the narrator seems happy and confident, and he describes a beautiful scene.
• Later a mountain appears on the horizon and the narrator is afraid of its size and power.
• He turns the boat around and goes home, but his view of nature is now changed.
Structure
• The poem is in three main sections:
1. The excitement of finding the boat – light and carefree tone.
2. The frightening journey – darker, more fearful tone.
3. The reflective epilogue, showing how the experience has changed him.
Form
• This extract is a first-person narrative. It sounds personal and describes a turning point in the poet’s life.
• The use of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) reflects the conversational, reflective tone as well as
the growing freedom felt in the exploration.
• The poem is an epic and an autobiography.
Context
The Prelude:
• It is a long autobiographical epic poem written in 14 sections.
• The first version was written in 1798 but he continued to work on it throughout his lifetime – we are looking at the
1850 version.
• The poem shows the spiritual growth of the poet (its full title is ‘Growth of a poet’s mind'), how he comes to
terms with who he is, and his place in nature and the world.
• Wordsworth lived in the Lake District – where the poem is set – with his sister Dorothy, herself a writer, who is
thought to have had a great influence on his words.
Epics:
• Epics are very long pieces of writing that usually deal with exciting, action-packed heroic events like wars or
explorations (think of ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘The Aeneid’ which tell heroes of Ancient Greece and Rome
respectively).
• Although many of the events Wordsworth writes about are ‘ordinary’, they are given an epic quality, to fully
describe the impact they had on his life.
Romanticism:
• Wordsworth was a Romantic poet (like Blake and Shelley).
• Some key Romantic ideas include a focus on the power of nature, the imagination, and revolution.
• Wordsworth’s Romantic poetry focuses on feelings and emotions, often those provoke by interacting with nature.
• The Romantics believed that nature itself was a kind of divine force, hence the chastisement of the mountain in
this section of the poem.
