7.1.4

Key Quotes & Comparisons

Test yourself

Key Quotations in The Prelude

Here are some key quotations you may want to use in your exam:

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“One summer evening (led by her)”

  • Personification of nature.
  • Nature is powerful, but also benevolent and gentle at this point.
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“Troubled pleasure”

  • Contrasting words.
  • These contrasting words create a sense of foreboding.
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“Small circles glittering idly in the moon”

  • Imagery.
  • The poet creates positive images of beauty at the start of the poem, presenting nature as awe-inspiring and magical.
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“A huge peak, black and huge”

  • Personification of nature.
    • Nature is personified and characterised as something menacing and frightening.
    • “Black” is associated with ideas of power and death.
  • Breaks iambic pentameter.
    • Shows how overwhelming the experience was and how nature’s power cannot be tamed.
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“There hung a darkness”

  • Dark colour imagery.
  • This highlights the haunting effect of the experience on the speaker.
  • The verb “hung” indicates that the narrator was unable to get rid of these disturbing thoughts and feelings.
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“I struck and struck again”

  • Repetition and violent language.
  • The repetition of “I struck and struck again” highlights the speaker’s panic and fear.
  • Violent language is introduced into the poem for the first time, signifying man’s battle with nature.
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“….And were a trouble to my dreams”

  • Vague language.
  • The language used by the narrator to describe the effect of the experience is vague. This highlights how the narrator is confused and unsettled by the experience.

Key Comparisons to The Prelude

Here are some themes that come up in The Prelude and other texts:

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Power of nature

  • On the theme of the power of nature, you may want to compare The Prelude to:
    • Storm on the Island.
    • Exposure.
    • Ozymandias.
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Powerful, unpleasant and significant experiences

  • On the theme of power, unpleasant and/or significant experiences, you may want to compare The Prelude to:
    • Storm on the Island.
    • Exposure.
    • London.
    • Kamikaze.
    • Remains.
    • War Photographer.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

1.1Ozymandias Analysis

1.1.1Summary

1.1.2Key Ideas

1.1.3Themes

1.1.4Irony & Rhythm

1.1.5Key Quotes & Comparisons

1.1.6End of Topic Test - Ozymandias

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

2.1London Analysis

2.1.1Summary

2.1.2Themes & Structure

2.1.3Themes & Structure 2

2.1.4Key Quotes & Comparisons

2.1.5Exam-Style Questions - London

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

3.1Storm on the Island Analysis

3.1.1Summary & Structure

3.1.2Themes

3.1.3Themes 2

3.1.4Key Quotes & Comparisons

3.1.5End of Topic Test - Blake & Heaney

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

4.1Exposure Analysis

4.1.1Summary

4.1.2Personification

4.1.3Themes

4.1.4Structure, Key Quotes & Comparisons

4.1.5End of Topic Test - Exposure

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

5.1War Photographer Analysis

5.1.1Summary

5.1.2Themes

5.1.3Imagery

5.1.4Comparisons & Key Quotes

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

6.1My Last Duchess Analysis

6.1.1Summary

6.1.2Characterisation & Themes

6.1.3Structure, Key Quotes & Comparisons

6.1.4End of Topic Test - Duffy & Browning

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

7.1Extract from The Prelude Analysis

7.1.1Summary

7.1.2Personification & Imagery

7.1.3Themes

7.1.4Key Quotes & Comparisons

7.1.5End of Topic Test - The Prelude

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

8.1Charge of the Light Brigade Analysis

8.1.1Summary

8.1.2Themes

8.1.3Rhetorical Techniques, Key Quotes & Comparisons

8.1.4End of Topic Test - Charge of the Light Brigade

8.1.5Exam-Style Questions - Charge of the Light Brigade

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

9.1Bayonet Charge Analysis

9.1.1Summary

9.1.2Themes

9.1.3Themes 2

9.1.4Structure & Key Comparisons

9.1.5End of Topic Test - Bayonet Charge

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

10.1Poppies Analysis

10.1.1Summary

10.1.2Theme of Motherhood

10.1.3Imagery

10.1.4Form, Structure & Key Comparisons

10.1.5End of Topic Test - Poppies

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

11.1Tissue Analysis

11.1.1Summary

11.1.2Themes & Symbolism

11.1.3Religion & Conflict

11.1.4Form, Structure & Key Comparisons

11.1.5End of Topic Test - Tissue

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

12.1The Emigree Analysis

12.1.1Summary & Structure

12.1.2Themes

12.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons

12.1.4End of Topic Test - The Emigree

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

13.1Kamikaze Analysis

13.1.1Summary & Structure

13.1.2Themes

13.1.3Themes 2

13.1.4Structure, Quotes & Comparisons

13.1.5End of Topic Test - Kamikaze

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

14.1Checking Out Me History Analysis

14.1.1Summary

14.1.2Themes

14.1.3Key Quotes & Comparisons

14.1.4End of Topic Test - Checking Out Me History

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

15.1Remains Analysis

15.1.1Summary

15.1.2Themes: Desensitisation &Trauma

15.1.3Themes: Guilt

15.1.4Themes: Nature of War

15.1.5Structure

15.1.6Key Quotes & Comparisons

15.1.7End of Topic Test - Remains

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

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Themes

End of Topic Test - The Prelude