Wordsworth

e extract from "The Prelude" is written mainly in the first person singular and in the past tense, reminiscing about a happy winters day when Wordsworth was a child. Wordsworth wrote this poem in 1798, when he was 28 years old, looking back on his childhood which was spent largely among mountains at Hawkshead where he was educated. The sonnet "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" is written mainly in the third person in the present tense and describes …

…as there would probably noise, pollution, cars, people and aeroplanes breaking the peace that there once was. Instead, a modern sonnet may be dedicated to The Millennium Dome, London Eye and the new offices and footbridge. In "The Prelude" the boys are playing out in the countryside on the ice. Today, even though children do still play out sometimes, it is more common for them to be occupied by modern technology such as computer games.