The World is Too Much With Us

By William Wordsworth

The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

What The Heck????The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

We make the world too complicated, it could be so simple,

We are wasting our natural talents on luxury items;

We see nothing relatable to ourselves in nature;

We’ve sold our souls to material things!

The moon shines on the sea;

The powerful winds consistently call out to us,

Are pushed aside like dead flowers,

For these reasons, we are not in sync with our surroundings;

It does not phase us. I would rather be

Sucked into an outdated religion;

So I would be standing in this meadow,

And this would make me happy;

I would be able to see the gods of the ocean;

And feel their power with nature.

Figurative Language The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

METAPHOR: This example compares the beautiful scenes of nature to dead flowers, or garbage, being pushed away and ignored. Wadsworth adds this to his piece to show his anger with the neglect towards nature as a whole.

This section is written to emphasize his frustration with the disconnection of nature. He is saying that he would rather conform to a religion that he does not practice, if it meant seeing nature in its prime.

Rhyme Scheme The world is too much with us; late and soon, A

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; B

Little we see in Nature that is ours; B

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! A

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; A

The winds that will be howling at all hours, B

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, B

For this, for everything, we are out of tune; A

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be C

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn; D

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, C

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; D

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; C

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. D

What were the romantic elements?

This poem was not about love, but it did emphasize and praise the beauty of nature. The poem reveals the Wadsworth’s love for nature.

Poet’s Attitude

• In this poem, Wadsworth’s irritation and

concern that humanity does not relate to nature is most evident. As a nature lover and advocate, he wants everybody to be able to love and appreciate it the way that he does. Wadsworth believes that nature is the most interesting part of the world, and it must be explored.

Theme

Don’t waste your precious life with the issues of society when there is a world beautiful of nature waiting to be discovered and appreciated.

Quiz Time!

Question 1 A Question 2 C

Question 3 CQuestion 4 D

Question 5 D

TPQ•What do you think the significance of the title is?