The narrator describes his childhood experience of stealing a boat by a willow tree. The experience teaches him a lesson about his misunderstanding of nature. He was naïve, confident, joyful and hopeful at the beginning. Then, he becomes intimidated, sombre, low, serious and grave, realising the darkness and power of nature. In this essay, I will talk about the poet telling the story of his understanding of nature using various techniques.
In the poem, the poet creates a pattern of imagery related to “troubled pleasure” and “a huge peak, black and huge” to convey the speaker’s impression of nature from benevolent to malevolent. At the start, he feels “troubled pleasure” suggesting that he feels guilty about stealing somebody’s little boat, but it gives him joy as he feels free like a bird. His determination comes from the “mountain-echoes” which encourages him to sail further. This implies that he has been on countless adventures and is very used to his surroundings. Moreover, he is determined to reach his destination in “an unswerving line”, which connotes his unwavering confidence in completing the task. Until he encounters a mountain that is described as “a huge peak, black and huge”, he is terrified. The poet uses repetition “huge” to emphasise the giant size and power of nature which is taking away his joy. It depicts nature as evil. At the end, he realises the darkness of nature and how terrible it is when he gets on the wrong side of it.
The poet creates a swift pace in the poem by using enjambment to emphasise the speaker’s unsettling emotions and him wanting to return home desperately. From “lines thirty-three to forty”, the poet does not use any punctuation to creates a swift pace to express a feeling of overwhelmed, sombre, low and depressed. The narrator runs home desperately from nature which he believes chasing him. I feel that he deserves to be chased back because he steals a boat without conscience.
The poem is written in one blank verse to tell his story of stealing a boat to convey the idea of his ignorance about nature. The poet wants to write a recount, so he uses a blank verse to make it easier without having to follow a rhyme scheme or the limitation of a set number of lines. Blank verse allows him to write as much as he wants and if he doesn’t follow a rhyme scheme, he need not match rhyming words. He writes this because he wants to tell the full journey in detail. From “lines one to twenty”, the poet writes a chain of events to show his confidence and joyfulness from stealing the boat. Then, there is a major shift of emotions from “lines twenty-one to forty-four” to describe the narrator’s feelings becoming depressed, confused, low and intimidated by nature.
In conclusion, the poet tells his story of a terrifying experience of nature. He uses a pattern of imagery, pace and blank verse to depict his brand-new understanding of nature. He was stupid and naïve of not knowing the darkness of nature and after the incident of being chased by an imaginary creature, he cannot recover from the terrible experience of that. Now, he learns his lesson to respect nature.
Boat Stealing (From The Prelude 1799)
William Wordsworth
I went alone into a Shepherd’s boat,
A skiff, that to a willow-tree was tied
Within a rocky cave, its usual home.
The moon was up, the lake was shining clear
Among the hoary mountains; from the shore
I pushed, and struck the oars, and struck again
In cadence, and my little boat moved on
Just like a man who walks with stately step
Though bent on speed. It was an act of stealth
And troubled pleasure. Not without the voice
Of mountain echoes did my boat move on,
Leaving behind her still on either side
Small circles glittering idly in the moon,
Until they melted all into one track
Of sparkling light. A rocky steep uprose
Above the cavern of the willow-tree,
And now, as suited one who proudly rowed
With his best skill, I fixed a steady view
Upon the top of that same craggy ridge,
The bound of the horizon—for behind
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.
She was an elfin pinnace; twenty times
I dipped my oars into the silent lake,
And as I rose upon the stroke my boat
Went heaving through the water like a swan –
When from behind that rocky steep, till then
The bound of the horizon, a huge cliff,
As if voluntary power instinct,
Upreared its head. I struck, and struck again,
And, growing still in stature, the huge cliff
Rose up between me and the stars, and still,
With measured motion, like a living thing
Strode after me. With trembling hands I turned,
And through the silent water stole my way
Back to the cavern of the willow tree.
There in her mooring-place I left my bark,
And through the meadows homeward went with grave
And serious thoughts; and after I had seen
That spectacle, for many days my brain
Worked with a dim and undetermined sense
Of unknown modes of being. In my thoughts
There was a darkness – call it solitude,
Or blank desertion – no familiar shapes
Of hourly objects, images of trees,
Of sea or sky, no colours of green fields,
But huge and mighty forms that do not live
Like living men moved slowly through my mind
By day, and were the trouble of my dreams.
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