The Prelude is an auto-biographical, epic poem by William Wordsworth, 'Mont Blanc' by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a much shorter poem, however it correlates closely to a passage from Wordsworth's epic where he describes a walking trip he took to Mont Blanc. There are some startling similarities between the two pieces, but at the same time there are sharp contrasts in the way that the scene is represented and the poets have conflicting views on what this beautiful landscape means to them. A key theme in romantic poetry is a connection with the natural world, if we look at the ways that Shelley and Wordsworth represent nature in their work then some interesting contrasts can be seen.
The Prelude, subtitled 'Growth of a Poet's Mind', is a narrative poem, showing us the events in Wordsworth's life that have shaped his way of thinking and his views on nature and existence.
Percy Bysshe Shelley imbibed his radical philosoph...
English: Interior title page for the poem "Mont Bl...
TYRON SHELLEYThe poem was written in blank verse, this form was reserved for epics and grand poems. Right away this unrhymed form, and the iambic pentameter which it follows, lend the poem a grand and sweeping feel, creating a sense of importance and gravitas.
This passage is split into three sections; a broad description of the mountain and the vale below it, a strictly narrative passage where Wordsworth tells of how he and his friend were lost upon the mountain and crossed the Alps without realising, and finally a lyric interruption or 'hymn' (Romantic Writings p123 ) to 'Imagination' (The Prelude, Book Sixth l525). First the speaker describes the setting, the natural world around him and how it effects his emotions, then he returns to the narrative, telling us of the event that has caused him to relay us this tale and finally he conveys to us the moral implications...