Wordsworth's often chose a model for his narrative structure that resembled a river. This allowed him to emphasize the differences between his text and retrospectively processed narratives. When looking at a river, the flow happens in the opposite direction as in a forking path, which changes the suggestion of the model and makes a river a more apt metaphor for prospective texts. In a path model, the possible options are ever increasing when looking to the future, but only one option can be followed. This gives the person traveling a series of choices that decide an otherwise indeterminate future. A river highlights the simultaneous contributions of many small tributaries, all of which travel unavoidably toward the same predetermined end. In a text with a plot that is structured like a river, there is no guesswork involved about which path the plot might take. There is always one point toward which all the plot elements will come together (Morgan, 2008).
In one scene of Wordsworth's Prelude, the personified Nature encourages the young Wordsworth to steal a boat and then admonishes him for failing to resist the urge. Even though in this scene the young Wordsworth only focused on the method that Nature used to correct him, the adult Wordsworth saw the contradiction and believed that Nature used this event to guide him and help him understand and control his human desires. Also in the process, it demonstrated that the relationship between an individual and nature is the same as that of parent and child (Wordsworth's "Prelude," 2007). This scene emphasized the contrast between the nature of an individual person and Nature, along with the experience and the perception of the child and adult. It is through these contrasts that Wordsworth demonstrates that his awareness of his surroundings was influenced by...
It also shows that as an adult he perceives the emotions he felt or should have felt as a boy. In the end, the theft of the boat becomes a learning experience for the boy and an object lesson for him as a man (Wordsworth's "Prelude," 2007).
By using the duality of experience that separates the now from the past, the action from the intent, the cause from the effect, and perception from reality, Wordsworth was able to examine his childish behaviors from the viewpoint of an adult. He was able to use his experience to demonstrate how nature is both beautiful and inspiring and how tit contrasts with the ever changing human perceptions of it (Wordsworth's "Prelude," 2007).
Works Cited
Bloom, Autumn. (2007). William Wordsworth's The Prelude. Retrieved June 30, 2009, from Associated Content Web site:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/370464/william_wordsworths_the_prelude.html?
cat=42
Coley, Sarah. (2008). Featured Poem: The Prelude, William Wordsworth. Retrieved June 30,
2009, from The Reader Magazine Web site: http://thereaderonline.co.uk/2008/03/featured-poem-the-prelude-william-wordsworth/
Morgan, Monique R. (2008). Narrative Means to Lyric Ends in Wordsworth's Prelude. Narrative.
(16) 3, p298-330.
The Prelude. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from:
http://www.users.muohio.edu/mandellc/prelho.htm
Wordsworth's Poetry. (2009). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from Spark Notes Web site:
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/wordsworth/analysis.html
Wordsworth's "Prelude." (2007). Retrieved June 30, 2009, from Anthropology of Ideas Web site:
https://anthologyoi.com/writings/poetry/wordsworths-prelude.html
