The Prelude

3 Pages 797 Words

In Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem, The Prelude, the author presents a variety of contradictory emotions. In fact, he goes through a cycle of various moods in response to the different scenes and situations he encounters. Such transition of feeling are transmitted through the use of diction, imagery and tone.
Wordsworth uses descriptive words that create different atmospheres through out the poem. The reader is first introduced to a peaceful and pacific setting. The author describes the ride his going to take as an act of “stealth” full of mystery. It is as if he wants to keep this unexpected meeting with nature to himself. Furthermore as the landscape becomes more attractive and brighter each time he “lustily” dips his oars to reach the promising horizon. Wordsworth appears to be in search of paradise and is determined to reach it. Moreover, Wordsworth suddenly sees a figure that changes the pleasant ride into a scary one. The author feels menaced by a huge figure and therefore starts “trembling” when dipping the oars. His determination seems to have disappeared as well as his confidence. Additionally, Wordsworth decides to go back to the “covert” that the willow tree offers. The author needed to look for a place where he felt protected; a shelter within nature to escape from his fear. In addition, by the end of the poem the author starts using more vague words to represent his feelings. He describes what he saw in his ride as an “spectacle,” a remarkable sight. Wordsworth began to interpret what he saw as something threatening, something that filled him up with a “dim” and “undetermined” sensation. After his experience he recalled what he felt as “solitude.” This sudden change in the author made him realize that he was alone in his search for a better place and something as vague as a figure frightened him.
Wordsworth tends to use personification in his poem when relating to n...