Write the summary of the poem stolen boat
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Stolen Boat by William Wordsworth
summary
Since the poem is an excerpt of a long epic, the whole poem forms one whole stanza. The poem begins with the poet confessing an incident form his childhood.
On a summer evening, the young poet found a little boat tethered to a willow tree in some rocky cave. He ‘stole’ the boat and took it on a joy ride across the lake. He was aware of his act of stealth but his guilt was intermixed with the feeling of pleasure. He says that his ride of the boat was accompanied by the echoes of the mountain. The poet steadily kept moving away from the shore and the reflection of the stars and moon left a trail of light on the surface of the water. As he sailed away from the shore, he kept his eyes on the horizon, which comprised a short crag and the stars above, to keep his path fixed to a straight, unswerving line. The poet praises the light boat he had stolen and calls is ‘an elfin pinnace’. He also praises his own prowess as a rower and compares himself and the boat to a swan that goes heaving through the water gracefully and effortlessly. This merry ride continued in peace until a mighty mountain peak upreared its head between the short crag and the stars.
As he kept rowing further away from the shore, the mountain grew in sight. The form of the huge shape frightened the poet and stirred his conscience. It seemed to chase after the poet as he kept drawing the boar away from its moor. Scared of this huge, black shape, the poet hurries back towards the cove he had stolen the boat from and returns home with a grave heart and a heavy conscience. The poet reminisces that following that incident, he had spent many days suffering from nightmares of the grim, huge shape. He says that the familiar forms, colours and shapes of nature that he had been accustomed to were replaced by the images of this huge mountain. This mountain, according to Wordsworth, was not a passive structure made of rocks or stone. It was like a living being yet different from living beings. It had taken over his thoughts by days and dreams by night. For many a day, he was tormented by the memory and solitude. Even though he realizes it’s only an optical illusion that the mountain was chasing him, it weighed heavy on his conscience and he realized the presence of beings unknown and unfathomable to him.
William woodsworth was born in 1770.He is considered one of the most eminent poets.He created the Romantic Movement along with fellow poet Taylor Coleridge. Their joint project, ‘Lyrical Ballads’ which they penned in 1798 is considered a masterpiece of the Romantic sentiment.
The Recluse was his most ambitious.He never completed it.
The Stolen Boat is actually an extract of the The Prelude was meant to be the preface of The Recluse. He is famous for his precision and dedication to poetic representation .He claimed that he owed his prowess to his memories and imagination.
Woodsworth was great friends with [poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. They around the Lake District, northwest England.The trio were referred to as the ‘Lake Poets’.
Wordsworth was given the title and position of the Poet Laureate of Britain in 1843 and he remained so till his death in 1850.
The poem is a very long epic which forms a whole stanza.
In the poem The Stolen Boat, the poet steals a tethered boat and takes it
The poem starts with the poet recollecting a critical incident from his childhood.
The poet comes across a boat tethered to a willow tree in a rocky cave one summer evening.
He allegedly steals the boat and takes it on a joy ride across the lake.
His mind is filled with feelings of guilt and pleasure.
On the boat ride he is followed by mountain echoes.
On the surface of the water , a reflection of the moon and the stars can be seen.
He keeps his eyes fixed on the horizon. He is full of praise for thr the light boart he had stolen.He calls it the ‘elfin pinnace’.
He boasts about his prowess as a rower.He then employs a metaphor when he compares the boat to a swan that swims effortlessly and gracefully.
He proceeds in peace until he meets a mighty mountain. He is scared and his conscience is stirred. He perceives that he is being chased. He employs another use of a metaphor when he writes that he kept drawing the boar form its moor. He is frightened and he returns to the cove from whence he had stolen the boat. He experiences nightmares. He asserts that the mountain is a living being which is different from other living beings.