Page 2: The Aftermath and Psychological Impact

The second page of the Extract from The Prelude poem pdf focuses on the aftermath of the narrator's encounter with the mountain. It describes his return to shore and the long-lasting psychological impact of the experience.

Upon reaching the safety of land, the narrator leaves his boat and returns home. However, the experience has profoundly affected him, altering his perception of the world around him.

Quote: "But after I had seen / That spectacle, for many days, my brain / Worked with a dim and undetermined sense / Of unknown modes of being."

The narrator describes a sense of darkness and solitude that has settled over his thoughts. The familiar, pleasant images of nature that he once knew have been replaced by a vague, unsettling sense of something greater and more mysterious.

Highlight: This section emphasizes the transformative power of the sublime experience, showing how it can alter one's perception of reality.

The poem concludes with the narrator describing how the memory of the mountain continues to trouble his dreams. The "mighty forms" that now occupy his mind are contrasted with the "familiar shapes" and "pleasant images" that he can no longer see clearly.

Definition: Solitude - A state of being alone, often associated with isolation or reflection.

This Detailed analysis of the prelude poem line by line reveals how Wordsworth uses the encounter with the mountain as a metaphor for the loss of innocence and the gaining of a more complex, albeit troubling, understanding of the world.

Example: The lasting impact of the experience is similar to how a soldier might replay a battle in their mind, as referenced in other poems.