Make Comparisons Between Texts: Poetry

 

When you analyse poetry, it is not enough to simply find any literary devices that the poet might use. 

 

You need to explain the effect of these devices and what they tell us. 

 

This is extremely important when comparing two poems. 

 

In this activity, you will look at two poems - an extract from 'The Prelude' by William Wordsworth c1800, and an extract from 'Rime of The Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1834. 

 

Both of these poems are classed as 'epic' which means that they are long, story-telling poems. We are looking at just an extract though!

 

Read the extracts and then get ready to answer some questions.

 

Extract from 'The Prelude' – William Wordsworth c1800

One summer evening (led by her) I found
A little boat tied to a willow tree
Within a rocky cove, its usual home.
Straight I unloosed her chain, and stepping in
Pushed from the shore. It was an act of stealth
And troubled pleasure, nor 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. But now, like one who rows,
Proud of his skill, to reach a chosen point
With an unswerving line, I fixed my view
Upon the summit of a craggy ridge,
The horizon's utmost boundary; far above
Was nothing but the stars and the grey sky.

 

 

Rime of the Ancient Mariner – 1834 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he

Was tyrannous and strong:

He struck with his o'ertaking wings,

And chased us south along.

 

With sloping masts and dipping prow,

As who pursued with yell and blow

Still treads the shadow of his foe,

And forward bends his head,

The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,

And southward aye we fled.

 

And now there came both mist and snow,

And it grew wondrous cold:

And ice, mast-high, came floating by,

As green as emerald.