Themes
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 7.1.3
Fear and Foreboding in the Prelude
Wordsworth creates an atmosphere of fear and foreboding as the speaker becomes increasingly scared of nature. Here are the techniques he uses to do so:
Contrasting words
- There is a sense of foreboding early in the poem, indicated by contrasting words, “troubled pleasure”.
- This could also suggest that the narrator feels some sort of guilt.
Violent language
- "I struck and struck again".
- Violent language is introduced into the poem for the first time, signifying man’s battle with nature.
Repetition
- The repetition of “I struck and struck again” highlights the speaker’s panic and fear.
- The poem ends on a highly negative note. The repetition of “no” highlights how nature, in the eyes of the speaker, has lost all its former beauty and glory. Instead, it has become a source of pain.
Contrast: Confidence and Uncertainty
There is a contrast between the speaker’s confidence and contentedness at the start of the poem as he rows out onto the lake, and his fear and disorientation at the end of the poem after being confronted by the mountain.
Language of confidence
- There are hints of confidence, even arrogance, in the first section of the poem.
- E.g. “proud of his skill”.
- At this stage, the speaker implies his younger self, was in control in the face of nature.
Language of uncertainty
- At the end of the extract, the language used by the narrator to describe the effect of the experience is vague.
- E.g. “….and were a trouble to my dreams.”
- This highlights how the narrator is confused and unsettled by the experience.
Test yourself on Themes
Which of these quotes is NOT repeated in the poem?
Which contrasting words create a sense of foreboding in the poem?
Which of these quotes shows a contrast between the speaker's confidence and uncertainty in The Prelude?