THE PRELUDE

The Prelude - Context

William Wordsworth - (1770-1850)

Wordsworth was radical poet who grew up in the Lake District.

Like other Romantic Poets, (such as Shelley and Blake) he was concerned with subjects such as nature and the imagination and opposed the industrialisation of England.

The Prelude is a long poem that Wordsworth started working on at the age of 28 and continued to work on it throughout his life. It was published a few months after he died in 1850.

It was an autobiographical poem, and was subtitled "The Growth of a Poet's Mind".

The Prelude - Analysis of key lines

One summer evening (led by her)

The third person pronoun may refer to Nature personified as a kind of guide. This demonstrates the influence nature has on the young mind. Wordsworth lost his mother at a young age and nature here may act as a surrogate. It takes on a comforting, protective guise at this point.

a huge peak, black and huge,... upreared its head.

Ironically, Wordsworth, the poet, is unable to describe the sight and resorts to repeting the monosyllabic 'huge.' But it is also fitting as point of view is, to an extent, the child's, and the experience then seems overwhelming.

no pleasant images of tress, ... but huge and mighty forms,... were a trouble to my dreams.

The last line of the passage indicates that the boy's view of nature has changed. He now sees it as a threat, powerful and dangerous and it causes him nightmares. The impact of the experience stays with him. The poem is as much about growing up (moving from innocence to experience) as it is about his encounter with nature.