Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Starter Task Read the poem carefully and underline any words you do not understand

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Context: William Wordsworth • • William Wordsworth was born in 1770 and died in 1850 He is one of the most famous poets in the history of English Literature. He was born in Cockermouth in Cumbria, part of the region commonly known as the Lake District, and his birthplace had a huge influence on his writing. So did the fact that his mother died when he was only eight years old. His father wasn't always around, although William did use his library for reading. William spent time with his grandparents who lived in nearby Penrith, an even wilder and more rugged place. Wordsworth is believed to have started writing poetry when he was at school; during this time he was orphaned by the death of this father. He went to Cambridge University and just before finishing his studies he set off on a walking tour of Europe, coming into contact with the French Revolution, which informed his writing.

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Context: William Wordsworth • • • He fell in love with a French woman and she had a child. Wordsworth returned to England before his daughter, Caroline, was born and war between Britain and France meant that he didn't see his daughter or her mother for many years. Samuel Taylor Coleridge stayed with Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy in 1796. They worked together on poems which became the collection called Lyrical Ballads, published two years later. This volume is a key text in the school of poetry known as 'The Romantics'. In 1802, shortly after visiting his daughter in France, Wordsworth married Mary Hutchinson, a friend from his school days. They had five children together. 1812 was a terrible year for them as two of their children died. Wordsworth was made Poet Laureate (the Queen's poet) in 1843. However, in 1847 he was badly affected by another death, that of his daughter Dora. He was said to be so devastated that he couldn't bring himself to write any more poetry. He died of pleurisy, an illness that affects the lungs, in 1850, aged 80.

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Context: Romanticism • • • Romanticism is not about romance, but nature The Romantics believed that God was present in everything natural and so that, therefore, all nature should be worshipped This was a very controversial view at the time William Wordsworth and his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge were the founders of the Romantic movement Other poems in the anthology by Romantic poets are: • ‘A Poison Tree’ by William Blake • ‘The Destruction of Sennacherib’ by Lord Byron

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Context: ‘The Prelude’ • • ‘The Prelude’ is an epic poem written by Wordsworth over the space of 50 years It is about key moments in his life that changed him and he added to it and changed it as time passed It was finally published by his wife after his death in 1850 This is just one section from it, the ‘boat-stealing’ extract. Watch this film about the poem: https: //www. youtube. co m/watch? v=EGn 1 Ilx_3 o 4

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Form & Structure • Written in ‘blank verse’ – it has no rhyme scheme or regular structure • No stanzas, although there is punctuation to help us read it • The Prelude is conversational, as if Wordsworth is sat next to us, telling us the story himself. • The poet uses "and"s throughout to give the verse a breathless quality.

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Lines 1 -16 One summer evening (led by her) I found A little boat tied to a willow tree Within a rocky cove, its usual home. Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth And troubled pleasure, nor without the voice Of mountain-echoes did my boat move on; 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 With an unswerving line, I fixed my view Upon the summit of a craggy ridge, The horizon’s utmost boundary; far above Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky. Language & Imagery Description of the natural scene • Night-time • Creates a calm, serene and peaceful atmosphere Ø The boy is engaging with this scene of beauty Themes of The Night & Loneliness The poem seems to suggest that you can sometimes experience feelings and events more clearly at night, perhaps due to loneliness

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Lines 17 -20 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; • His boat is small and weak • But he is still able to make it go where he wants with power and beauty (simile of the swan) Ø Suggests he is at one with nature and able to control it

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Lines 21 -31 When, from behind that craggy steep till then The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, As if with voluntary power instinct, Upreared its head. I struck and struck again, And growing still in stature the grim shape Towered up between me and the stars, and still, For so it seemed, with purpose of its own And measured motion like a living thing, Strode after me. With trembling oars I turned, And through the silent water stole my way Back to the covert of the willow tree; A drastic change of tone occurs here • Intimidating & scary language used to describe the mountain & his reaction to it • Personification of the mountain Ø Makes it seem like a beast Theme of Coming of Age Does this change of tone signify Wordsworth becoming a man? Is this realisation that he can’t control nature a turning point in his life – he can’t control events in his life?

Extract from The Prelude by William Wordsworth LO: To understand the language, form & Structure of the poem Lines 32 -44 There in her mooring-place I left my bark, -And through the meadows homeward went, in grave And serious mood; but after I had seen That spectacle, for many days, my brain Worked with a dim and undetermined sense Of unknown modes of being; o’er my thoughts There hung a darkness, call it solitude Or blank desertion. No familiar shapes Remained, no pleasant images of trees, Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields; But huge and mighty forms, that do not live Like living men, moved slowly through the mind By day, and were a trouble to my dreams. Gothic, nightmarish and sinister imagery used to describe the lasting effect this had on him • He cannot view nature in the same way Ø Shows his transformation from boy to man Theme of Loneliness Wordsworth is often on his own throughout The Prelude and this is important to him. He can think more clearly and is more affected by events and places as a result.