Extract from, the prelude

Extract from, the prelude

1. Language Techniques

   • Language Techniques
     • "one summer" starts with summer so the reader expects a nice happy poem so it is more of a shock when it turns dark and mysterious
   • Personification
     • he refers to the boat as "her"
   • Imagery
     • "There hung a darkness"the word "hung" is very sinister and also : darkness is scary.
     • "sparkling light" the word "sparkling" connotes precious items like diamonds.

2. Themes

   • The night: the poem seems to suggest that you can sometimes experience feelings and events more clearly at night, perhaps due to loneliness.
   • Nature: humanity is part of nature and sometimes we can be made to feel very small and insignificant by the natural world
   • 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.

3. Structure

   • This extract is a complete story in itself. It starts with "One summer evening..." and finishes with the effects on his mind of the boat trip: "a trouble to my dreams".
   • 44 lines and is blank verse
   • There are no stanzas

4. sound

   • The poet uses "and"s throughout to give the verse a breathless quality.
   • The Prelude is conversational