Excerpt from The Prelude by William Wordsworth (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
What is the poem about?
‘Excerpt from The Prelude’ is a poem by Romantic poet William Wordsworth and is taken from his autobiographical epic poem, The Prelude, which he worked on throughout his life (published posthumously in 1850). This excerpt captures a childhood memory of ice skating on a frosty evening. Wordsworth’s nostalgic tone conveys the joy and freedom of youth and the connection between humans and nature. The poem explores the themes of innocence and the power of nature.
Language, structure and form revision | What happens in the poem? |
Language:
Form:
Structure: | Lines one to five:
Lines six to nine:
Lines ten to fourteen:
Lines fifteen to nineteen:
Lines twenty to twenty-three:
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Poems for comparison:
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Key words
Context: | Romanticism | Bucolic | Spirit of nature |
Themes: | Nature’s beauty and power | Innocence and youth | Freedom and independence |
Poem analysis
'Excerpt from The Prelude’ by William Wordsworth
And in the frosty season, when the sun
Was set, and visible for many a mile
The cottage windows through the twilight blaz’d,
I heeded not the summons: – happy time
It was, indeed, for all of us; to me
It was a time of rapture: clear and loud
The village clock toll’d six; I wheel’d about,
Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse,
That cares not for his home. – All shod with steel,
We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games
Confederate, imitative of the chace
And woodland pleasures, the resounding horn,
The Pack loud bellowing, and the hunted hare.
So through the darkness and the cold we flew,
And not a voice was idle; with the din,
Meanwhile, the precipices rang aloud,
The leafless trees, and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound
Of melancholy, not unnoticed, while the stars,
Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west
The orange sky of evening died away.
Language
Personification of nature is used: the precipices “rang”
The simile “like an untir’d horse” conveys the speaker’s exuberance and joy
The poem contrasts rustic warmth with natural cold, as the cottage windows “blaz’d” but are surrounded by the “frosty” night and “icy crags”
Simple adjectives, “clear”, “loud” and “happy”, echo the persona’s childlike voice
The final line uses celestial imagery to create a feeling of closure
There is a clear shift in tone from excitement and adventure to fear and awe as the poem progresses, as nature becomes increasingly threatening
Structure
The structure progresses from the speaker’s initial excitement to a more reflective, melancholy tone at the end denoting the passing of time
Descriptions of the sky, at the start and end of the stanza, symbolically enclose this memory
Enjambment is used to create momentum and to reflect the continuous motion of skating
Form
Wordsworth uses blank verse written in iambic pentameter which reinforces the authenticity and naturalism of the speaker’s voice, like an inner monologue
This extract from the poem is a single stanza, creating a sense of breathlessness to convey the overwhelming intensity of the experience he depicts
Overview of themes
Themes | Key Quotations | Language, form and structure |
Nature’s beauty and power | “… while the stars,/ Eastward, were sparkling clear, and in the west/ The orange sky of evening died away.” “The leafless trees, and every icy crag/ Tinkled like iron, while the distant hills” “stars … sparkling clear …” | The stanza starts and ends cyclically with descriptions of the beauty of the sky, rooting the poem firmly in the natural world Nature’s awesome, threatening power, is suggested by the simile of ‘iron’ and the cold, barren descriptions of trees and mountains Sibilance heightens the beauty of the celestial description, underlining the spiritual nature of his encounter with nature |
Innocence and youth | “I wheel’d about,” “We hiss’d along the polish’d ice, in games “happy time” “clear and loud” | Childlike verbs “wheel’d”, “flew” and “hiss’d” conveys a sense of carefree movement. References to games, chasing and hunting convey a sense of joy in their freedom and unexpected independence Simple, monosyllabic adjectives convey the speaker’s innocence and youth |
Freedom and independence | “I wheel’d about, /Proud and exulting, like an untir’d horse, /That cares not for his home …” “loud bellowing” “And not a voice was idle; with the din,” | The simile of a horse, embodying the Romantic spirit of nature, symbolically suggests the speaker’s feeling of freedom and independence The children “exhult” in their freedom, with their “din” conveying the lack of limitations they feel in this epic landscape |
Historical and literary context
As the poem as a whole is autobiographical, the speaker can be assumed to be a fictionalised version of Wordsworth himself:
The poem reveals personal details of his life, emphasised by the use of the first-person and the past tense as the speaker recalls events
Wordsworth grew up in the Lake District, where he spent much time outside in order to escape his difficult childhood
Wordsworth was also a Romantic poet, and this poem focuses on remembering a simpler, more natural past, typical of this literary style:
Romantic poets were interested in the power of nature, humanity and emotion
They were generally opposed to the industrialisation and scientific progress sweeping through Europe during the early 19th century
Romantic poets generally disliked attempts to impose power on people or things against their will, such as humanity’s pride in attempting to impose order on or control nature
Wordsworth viewed The Prelude as an adaptation of the techniques the poet John Milton developed in his poem Paradise Lost:
Whereas Paradise Lost tells the story of the fall of Satan and Adam and Eve, Wordsworth chose his own life as a subject, turning the story inwards to capture his thoughts and impressions
Comparing poems
Look at this exam-style question about ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’:
‘Excerpt from the Prelude’ is about the power and beauty of nature. Compare the way the poet presents nature in your chosen poem with the way Wordsworth presents nature in ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’. In your answer you should:
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How you could approach this question:
Thesis / Essay introduction: In ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’ and Keats’ ode ‘To Autumn’, both poets lyrically convey the beauty of the natural world. While nature provides an unforgettable setting for Wordsworth’s poem, Keats’ poem is “o’er-brimm’d” with its loveliness. | |
Similarities | Differences |
Both poems evoke the beauty and majesty of a particular season, with lyrical descriptions and recollections | In Keats’ poem, the descriptions of nature are exuberant and sensual, while the natural world is more threatening or powerful in Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem |
Nature’s beauty is powerfully expressed through sensory language in both poems, adding a physical and textural immediacy to the poetry | While Wordsworth’s language has a childlike simplicity and authenticity, Keats’ heady, elevated use of language heightens the readers’ appreciation for nature |
Nature provides an authentic and awe-inspiring setting for Wordsworth’s reminiscence of youth, structurally enclosing the stanza, but Keats’ ode focuses exclusively on nature’s transient beauty, ending with an elegiac tone | Wordsworth’s first-person, nostalgic recollections evoke his childhood experiences in nature, while Keats’ poem addresses nature through the personified figure of Autumn itself |
Thesis / Essay introduction: In both ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’, the poets reflect on a profound moment spent in the natural world. For Wordsworth, nature is the Romantic focus or backdrop of the poem, while for Seamus Heaney, his relationship with the natural world is forever changed. | |
Similarities | Differences |
Both poems are autobiographical, first-person recollections of a significant moment spent in nature as a child, which had an unforgettable impact on the speaker | While Wordsworth’s poem celebrates his joy and childish exuberance skating on a frosty night, the tone in Heaney’s poem changes from fascination with nature to horror at its corruption following his grotesque encounter with frogs “one hot day” |
In both poems, the poets’ use of language and imagery deliberately conveys their childlike delight in nature, and the sense of freedom and independence they feel in the natural world | Wordsworth’s use of language echoes the Romantics’ fascination with and veneration of nature in the lyrical, “sparking clear” descriptions, while in contrast, Heaney’s more vernacular, colloquial language has greater immediacy and physicality, as he describes the “farting” of “gross bellied frogs” |
Nature’s fascinating power and beauty is a central concern, providing the poetic impetus for both poets to share their recollections of an unforgettable moment | Despite the threatening presence of the “icy crags” and “lifeless trees”, Wordsworth’s encounter with the natural world ultimately fills his speaker with feelings of joy, while Heaney’s speaker’s experience of “obscene threats” leaves him “sickened” |
Predicted exam questions to prepare for:
Compare the way the poet presents innocence and youth in your chosen poem with the way William Wordsworth presents innocence and youth in ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’.
Compare the way the poet presents freedom in your chosen poem with the way William Wordsworth presents freedom in ‘Excerpt from The Prelude’
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