The Prelude, written by William Wordsworth and published in 1850, is an autobiographical poem composed in unrhymed iambic pentameter. This poem follows the speaker through a series of psychological events in which he illustrates contrasting views of nature. In The Prelude, Wordsworth uses literary devices such as diction, imagery, and tone to communicate to readers his varying experiences with nature. In the beginning, the poem takes on a peaceful tone. The speaker is filled with anxious elation as he is becoming, as he describes, one with nature. Wordsworth sets the harmonious scene by using adept diction when he expresses in lines 1-6, “One summer evening, (led by her), I found a little boat tied to a willow tree…Straight I unloosed her
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Through adroit word choice, Wordsworth portrays a tone of control and certainty altering into a tone of apprehensive panic. As well as diction, he exploits personification, by referring to nature as a “living being,” to emphasize the power it has gained over him. He expresses this in lines 22-30, “When, from behind the craggy steep till then, the horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, as if with voluntary power instinct upreared its head…For it so seemed, with purpose of its own and measured motion like a living thing, strode after me. With trembling oars I turned, and through the silent water stole my way…,” (Wordsworth 1). He articulates how his endeavors have disturbed his mind, by recounting “no familiar shapes remained,” and “no pleasant images of trees, of sea or sky, no colour of green fields [endured]…”, but instead, “…huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men,” envelops his thoughts and haunts his dreams (Wordsworth 1). In conclusion, The Prelude is a poetic depiction of a reflective event in the author’s life, in which he takes the reader through a succession of cognitive emotions. It is apparent through proficient use of diction, imagery, and tone that Wordsworth painted a picture of his conflicting perspectives of
Through adroit word choice, Wordsworth portrays a tone of control and certainty altering into a tone of apprehensive panic. As well as diction, he exploits personification, by referring to nature as a “living being,” to emphasize the power it has gained over him. He expresses this in lines 22-30, “When, from behind the craggy steep till then, the horizon’s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, as if with voluntary power instinct upreared its head…For it so seemed, with purpose of its own and measured motion like a living thing, strode after me. With trembling oars I turned, and through the silent water stole my way…,” (Wordsworth 1). He articulates how his endeavors have disturbed his mind, by recounting “no familiar shapes remained,” and “no pleasant images of trees, of sea or sky, no colour of green fields [endured]…”, but instead, “…huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men,” envelops his thoughts and haunts his dreams (Wordsworth 1). In conclusion, The Prelude is a poetic depiction of a reflective event in the author’s life, in which he takes the reader through a succession of cognitive emotions. It is apparent through proficient use of diction, imagery, and tone that Wordsworth painted a picture of his conflicting perspectives of