Page 2: Aftermath and Reflection
The second page of the Extract from The Prelude GCSE analysis focuses on the lasting impact of the experience on the narrator.
After returning the boat, the narrator walks home "in grave and serious mood." The encounter with the mountain has profoundly affected him, leaving him with a "dim and undetermined sense of unknown modes of being."
Wordsworth uses powerful imagery to convey the psychological impact of the event. The narrator describes a darkness hanging over his thoughts, comparing it to solitude or "blank desertion." Familiar, pleasant images of nature are replaced by "huge and mighty forms" that trouble his dreams.
Highlight: This section emphasizes the theme of The Prelude concerning the transformative power of nature on the human psyche.
Example: The line "No familiar shapes remained, no pleasant images of trees" illustrates how the narrator's perception of nature has been altered by his experience.
The poem concludes with context about William Wordsworth's life and the Romantic movement. Born in Cumberland, Wordsworth had a difficult childhood and lost both parents in adolescence. As a Romantic poet, he advocated for a return to nature in response to growing industrialization.
Definition: Romantic poetry often emphasized emotion, individualism, and the beauty of the natural world in contrast to the rationalism and industrialization of the Enlightenment era.
This Extract from The Prelude Power and Conflict analysis reveals how Wordsworth uses personal experience to explore broader themes of man's relationship with nature, the loss of innocence, and the power of the sublime in shaping human consciousness.
