How is the theme of power

presented in the Extract from

The Prelude?
Homework Task

Rua Razik
Submitted on: 11/12/2023
9TH GRADE ENGLISH
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The poem narrates the story of Wordsworth’s childhood one night in the Lake District as
he stumbles upon a boat and rows it into the lake. In the beginning he’s seemingly happy
and proud of himself for having done this but as the poem progresses, we see him
become frightened as he sees a huge boulder that terrifies him and traumatises him
permanently.
The Prelude is written in blank verse, meaning the poem does not rhyme, but it is written
in iambic pentameter. This pentameter keeps a constant rhythm that contrasts the
indicative events which occur to the young man.
The poem also introduces the theme of reflection as the setting of the poem is in a boat
that is going on a long journey and this could metaphorically suggest the spiritual
journey the narrator is taking while realising the true extent of nature.
Wordsworth uses enjambment in the lines “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;/” and “I
struck and struck again,/ and growing still in stature the grim shape/ towered up
between me and the stars” and his use of this device makes the poem ‘flow’ and feel like
a stream of consciousness. The enjambment also suggests the narrator had an
uncontrollable desire to convey the power of nature showing that he wanted to express
what he felt.
In the line, “One summer evening led by her,” the personification of nature in the phrase
‘by her’ indicates that he had a good relationship with nature as it is clearly able to lead
him to doing something that caused him ‘troubled pleasure’. Oxymoron is also seen in
the lines “A little boat tied to a willow tree/ within a rocky cave, its usual home;” the
adjective ‘little’ shows delicacy of man made objects but the adjective ‘rocky’ contrasts
with this, demonstrating nature's power over man.
Soft verbs such as ‘glittering’, ‘melted’, and sparkling create an image that shows a sense
of calmness and peacefulness surrounding him as he wades into the water but in the
phrase “craggy ridge”, the adjective craggy yet again demonstrates dominance of nature;
it’s rough and uneven, difficult to climb, etc.
The simile “heaving through the water like a swan,” describes the movement of the boat
through the water, comparing the movement to a swan; gliding across the lake, again
linking with nature as he feels at one with it.
Wordsworth continues showing us his personal relationship with nature in the clause,
“She was an elfin pinnace” using personification to describe the boat and hinting the
personal relationship again.
Up until the phrase, “heaving through the water like a swan,” the scene is set as calm but
the atmosphere shifts when he comes across a huge mountain.

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In the lines, “The horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge,” repetition of the
adjective ‘huge’ demonstrates the dominance of the mountain peak and the
personification of mountain, again creates a very powerful image. Other words that
demonstrate how powerful nature is include the noun “stature” and the verb “towered”.
The verb ‘struck’ in the lines, “I struck and struck again,” shows the change of the
atmosphere from calm to stormy. The repetition of this word shows that the narrator is
now trying to go against nature. In the previous lines, we saw that Wordsworth had a
good relationship with nature but the verb ‘trembling’ shows how he no longer has a
sturdy relationship with nature and has become intimidated by it as he feels it has
turned against him. The simile “like a living thing, strode after me,” again shows the
power nature has, and how quickly it can change and turn against mankind.
The adjective ‘silent’ in the phrase, “And through the silent water stole my way,” contrasts
with the stormy mood and atmosphere the writer has created. Other adjectives that
demonstrate this are ‘grave’ and ‘serious’ This is known as pathetic fallacy because the
surroundings reflect the inner mood of the narrator. The phrase ‘stole my way’ indicates
that he has had to fight against nature just to get back to safety.
Even afterwards he continues to feel scared and insignificant and finds it difficult to
function as he normally would and this is seen evident in the lines, “for many days, my
brain worked with a dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being;”.

To conclude, Wordsworth conveys that humanity is part of nature and sometimes we can
be made to feel very small and insignificant by the natural world.