Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth Guided

Extract from ‘The Prelude’ by William Wordsworth.

Guided Poetry Lesson: Extract from the Prelude by William Wordsworth. LESSON OUTCOME: To EXPLAIN how context relates to meaning and to ANALYSE key structural and language features. LESSON OBJECTIVE: To UNDERSTAND the context, meanings and ideas of Wordsworth’s poem. You will analyse the poem against the following assessment objectives that the examiner will be assessing you on: AO 1 Respond to the poem with a critical and personal style. Find your own interpretations and make sure to BACK up with relevant quotations from the poem. AO 2 Analyse the language, form and structure of the poem. Use relevant subject terminology. The use of the enjambment… The use of the adjective… AO 3 Show that you understand how the poem relates to its context. Try to spot how the life of the poet or how the time at which is written relates to ideas in the poem.

A 03 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH I was t he Poet Laurea te in 1843 • Born in Cumberland (a region in the Lake District), he was the second of five children. • Wordsworth had a traumatic childhood as Romantic poetry was both his parents died by the time he was centred on a hatred of thirteen. • • urban life during the boom He was sent to live with his grandparents of the Industrial and uncle in Penrith who he disliked so much Artwork and spent that. Revolution. he considered suicide. He often time exploring theat Lake District writings this timeto get away and seek comfort. embraced nature and of the Crucially, elements his eldest brother John, who was the captainsupernatural. of a ship, died at sea. This fear of nature, despite it’s comfort as a child in Penrith, is echoed in the poem. • He was a ROMANTIC poet.

POEM AO 3 THE Contextual Introduction Wordsworth was born here • This is an ‘epic poem’: a long piece of poetry that has a blank verse (no rhyme scheme). • It is an autobiographical poem; it shares a time when, as a young boy, Wordsworth went ice skating one Winter’s night. • Wordsworth admired nature because he was brought up surrounded by it, yet in this poem, he becomes frightened by a large mountain and the powers of nature. • It captures the fear of adulthood and the weaknesses of humankind against nature at a time of the Industrial Revolution. He called this poem “a poem on the growth of my own mind”. He was moved to in Penrith

And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and visible for many a mile The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom, I heeded not their summons: happy time It was indeed for all of us–for me It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud 430 The village clock tolled six, –I wheeled about, Proud and exulting like an untired horse That cares not for his home. All shod with steel, We hissed along the polished ice in games Confederate, imitative of the chase And woodland pleasures, –the resounding horn, The pack loud chiming, and the hunted hare. So through the darkness and the cold we flew, And not a voice was idle; with the din Smitten, the precipices rang aloud; 440 The leafless trees and every icy crag Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills Into the tumult sent an alien sound Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west The orange sky of evening died away. Not seldom from the uproar I retired Into a silent bay, or sportively Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng, To cut across the reflex of a star 450 That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes, When we had given our bodies to the wind, And all the shadowy banks on either side Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still The rapid line of motion, then at once Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me–even as if the earth had rolled With visible motion her diurnal round! 460 Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep. In his long poem THE PRELUDE, William Wordsworth – who is regarded as the quintessential Romantic poet of nature – tells the story of his life, pausing, sometimes, to reflect on significant moments. In addition to believing that the natural world should be the most important source of inspiration for poetry. Wordsworth felt that there can be certain moments in our lives in which we go beyond, or transcend, everyday "reality" and experience ourselves and the world around us more vividly or in a different way. These "spots of time", as he calls them, stand out in our memories and have the power to strengthen us in difficult times. For him, his childhood in the English Lake District was particularly rich in these moments, many of which are recorded in the first books of THE PRELUDE. Here he describes the experience of skating on a frozen

The poem opens with a description of a perfect winter wonderland. It is ''the frosty season'' and the sun has set. The only lights are those of the cottage windows, shining through ''the twilight gloom''. They may call to some, but Wordsworth ignores their summons. This is a time of joy for the young boy and his friends, but there is a sense that Wordsworth somehow appreciates it even more than his companions. ''- for me / It was a time of rapture!'' The runon lines add to this sense of excitement and freedom that the poet felt during this ''happy time''. Wordsworth likens himself to a horse in the eighth line, a comparison reinforced by his description of the skaters as being ''shod with steel''. The repeated ''s'' sounds in the line ''We hissed along the polished ice'' bring the scene to life for us. The children are also compared to a pack of hounds chasing a hare. The verbs used in this section of the poem are very dynamic: ''wheeled'', ''hissed'' and ''flew'', and their use, as well as the comparison between the poet and an ''untired horse'' add to the sense of energy and vigour in the poem. It is easy to imagine the children's pleasure and excitement as they skate about in the dark, and Wordsworth's effective use of language allows us to share in the skaters' delight and excitement. Exclamative used to show his joy and delight Animal imagery to illustrate their energy, speed and excitement. And in the frosty season, when the sun Was set, and visible for many a mile The cottage windows blazed through twilight gloom, I heeded not their summons: happy time It was indeed for all of us–for me It was a time of rapture! Clear and loud 430 The village clock tolled six, –I wheeled about, Proud and exulting like an untired horse That cares not for his home. All shod with steel, We hissed along the polished ice in games Confederate, imitative of the chase And woodland pleasures, –the resounding horn, The pack loud chiming, and the hunted hare. AO 1: Sum up the time of day and what the boy is doing. AO 2: explain the techniques Wordsworth uses to show the boy’s emotions. Inside is warm but he’d still rather be outside in the cold playing enjambment Sibilant alliteration to reflect the speed and hissing of the skates on the ice.

As the children skate on, they shout with glee. ''So through the darkness and the cold we flew, / And not a voice was idle. '' The noise echoes off the surrounding cliffs, and the ''precipices rang aloud''. Wordsworth's depiction of the sounds in this poem is wonderful. The simile describing the echoes is particularly striking. The landscape ''Tinkled like iron'' as the children played. The use of the word ''tinkle'' suggests Christmas bells, perhaps, or any other cheerful, happy sound. The echoes which come back from the distant hills are sad and ''alien''. The ''melanacholy'' may seem out of place when describing children's games, but the Romantic poets believed that sad music was the most beautiful. The mention of ''melancholy'' also lends the poem an air of mystery, and perhaps they foreshadow the emotions of the adult poet as he thinks back to those times which he cannot revisit. Everyone is having fun – their noise contrasts with the quiet of their surroundings Simile – emphasises the sounds of nature Cold and dark does not stop their fun – verb ‘flew’ illustrates speed So through the darkness and the cold we flew, And not a voice was idle; with the din Smitten, the precipices rang aloud; 440 The leafless trees and every icy crag Tinkled like iron; while far distant hills Into the tumult sent an alien sound Of melancholy not unnoticed, while the stars Eastward were sparkling clear, and in the west The orange sky of evening died away. Barren winter imagery AO 1: Sum up what Wordsworth is describing in these lines. AO 2: Explain how the language here contrasts with the images of the earlier lines.

Time passes, and nothing will ever be the same again. Wordsworth leaves his friends and finds a quiet spot away from the ''tumultuous throng'' where he can skate around in peace. It is significant that Wordsworth feels the need to leave his companions. He retires to a ''silent bay'' and spends time alone. This emphasis on solitude and isolation, and on the need for peace and time to allow the poet to contemplate the natural world is a feature of Romantic poetry. The poet is not like the other children; already he has a keener appreciation of the natural world. The description of the children as having ''given our bodies to the wind'' is a powerful now. They are out of control, and have surrendered themselves to the speed and the exhilaration of skating. When he takes a break, the dizzy youngster feels an awareness of the earth turning on her ''diurnal round''. The mood of the poem changes in the last lines. After all the excitement of the skating, Wordsworth takes a moment to stand watch the beauty of the ''shadowy banks on either side''. He feels as if the earth is spinning because he has been whirling around on his skates, but there is also a hint here that time passes and that, although the boy might not be aware of it, life is transient. As he stands there, he experiences a feeling of utmost tranquillity. ''I stood and watched / Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep. '' How does this compare to how this verb was used earlier on? What is the effect of this? (AO 2) Comparative adjectives Not seldom from the uproar I retired Into a silent bay, or sportively Glanced sideway, leaving the tumultuous throng, To cut across the reflex of a star 450 That fled, and, flying still before me, gleamed Upon the glassy plain; and oftentimes, When we had given our bodies to the wind, And all the shadowy banks on either side Came sweeping through the darkness, spinning still The rapid line of motion, then at once Have I, reclining back upon my heels, Stopped short; yet still the solitary cliffs Wheeled by me–even as if the earth had rolled With visible motion her diurnal round! 460 Behind me did they stretch in solemn train, Feebler and feebler, and I stood and watched Till all was tranquil as a dreamless sleep. Switches to a personal/lonely perspective now – reflective – Romantic feature (AO 3) Diurnal =daily personification Simile – calm, relaxing atmosphere – reflective of time passing transient AO 1: Why does the boy want to be alone? AO 3: How does this part of the poem reflect the features of Romantic poetry?

SUM UP 10 Show off your AO 3 knowledge. Can you refer to the three key AO 3 words from these images in your response? response Count up your score when finished. Can you explain the overall message of Wordsworth’s poem? 5 SS: Wordsworth wanted to convey that… SS: Wordsworth recalls the time he went skating because…. 3 AO 3 Thermometer Can you hit 18 points? LESSON OBJECTIVE: To UNDERSTAND the context, meanings and ideas of Wordsworth’s poem.