worldwithus

=** The World Is Too Much with Us **=
 * William Wordsworth**[[image:wordsworth-pic.jpg align="right" caption="William Wordsworth" link="http://chawedrosin.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud-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 wreathed horn.

**Paraphrase of the poem:**

 * **__Original Poem__** || **__Paraphrase__** ||
 * 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 wreathed horn. || The world is too great for us; in the present and the future

We use and squander the world's gifts,

We don't see much in nature that is a part of us;

We are no longer in touch with nature, what a horrid gift!

And the ocean, exposed to the moon,

And winds which do not cease to blow

Which die down like flowers at night

We are out of sync with this and everything else in nature,

Our emotions are not invoked by it (enough). God, I'd prefer to be

A Pagan, brought up in an outdated religion,

So that when I stand in this meadow

I would see things in nature that would make me feel less lonely,

Like seeing [sea god] Proteus rising out of the ocean

Or [Proteus' son, a god] Triton blowing on his adorned conch shell. ||

**History of the poet William Wordsworth:**
William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland (England). The landscape of the area was a large influence upon Wordsworth, who gained a love of nature because of such. His family life was not a happy one, as at age eight he lost his mother and at age thirteen his father died as well. The troubles that followed also separated him from his sister, Dorothy, whom he loved very much.

His two uncles enrolled him in a local school, after which he enrolled in Cambridge University. Wordsworth’s first publication was a sonnet in The European Magazine in 1787. After graduating from St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1791, Wordsworth met Coleridge in 1795. Encouraged by Coleridge, Wordsworth created __Lyrical Ballads__. __Lyrical Ballads__ was published in 1798, and revolutionized English poetry with plain poems focusing on everyday occurrences, written for the average person, instead of poems with embellished artificial situations geared toward the upper class.

Since his financial situation had also gotten better by 1795, Wordsworth stayed with his sister and Coleridge in Germany, where he wrote several poems. He later returned to England, and married Mary Hutchinson in 1802.

Wordsworth’s second collection of poems, __Poems, In Two Volumes__, was published in 1807. In 1813 he moved from Dove Cottage, Grasmere, to Rydal Mount, Ambleside, where he lived out the rest of his life. He died at age 80 on April 23, 1850.

**History of the poem:**
The poem __The World Is Too Much with Us__ was published in the 1807 collection //Poems, In Two Volumes//. Since most of Wordsworth's publicity had been earned through his earlier work, __Lyrical Ballads__, he was hoping that his works within the collection would increase his fame. Unfortunately, it never became as widely renowned as __Lyrical Ballads__//.//

= =

**Poetic Structure:**
This poem is written in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet. Consisting of 14 lines of iambic pentameter, the first half of the poem is an octave with an abba abba rhyme scheme and the second half is a sestet with a cdcdcd rhyme scheme. The octave's purpose is to present the argument; in this case, the argument is that we are not close enough to nature and do not appreciate it enough. The sestet provides the solution or conclusion to the argument, which in this poem would be that the narrator would rather not be a Christian and thus be able to appreciate nature for its full worth.

One thing of interest is that while the "Volta," or turn, of a Petrarchan sonnet usually is between the 8th and 9th lines, the turn of this particular poem is in the middle of line 9. This is easily perceived by the literal dash used in the writing as well as the counterargument that is presented with great enthusiasm (i.e. "Great God!" (8))

**Poetic Devices in the Poem**:
Sibilance examples: - “**S **o might I, **s **tanding on thi**s ** plea** s **ant lea,” (11) Sibilance is used in the poem to help illustrate imagery in the poem in the sestet: In "So might I, standing on this pleasant lea," (11) sibilance enforces the feeling of quiet calmness of the meadow. In "Have sight of [|Proteus] rising from the sea," (13) sibilance adds to the imagery of the sea.

Allusion examples: - “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea” (13)-This refers to the ancient Greek myth of Proteus who was often called “the Old Man of the Sea”, who herded the seal flocks of Poseidon. It was said that he could reveal the future, but also had the ability to shape shift in attempts to avoid doing so. This reference is probably used to support the phrase about speculation of being a pagan to better appreciate nature and such. - “Or hear Triton blow his wreathed horn” (14)-This refers to Triton in ancient Greek mythology who was son of Poseidon and had a horn made of shell (conch) that could be blown to calm the ocean waves. Like the first reference, is to support the line about paganism and getting back in touch with nature.

Imagery examples: - “ The winds that will be howling at all hours,/And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers.” These lines help the reader conceptualize the wind as both active and dormant, using descriptive phrases such as “howling at all hours” (6) as well as comparative imagery such as “sleeping flowers” (7).

Analysis:
__The World Is Too Much with Us__ is a poem by William Wordsworth criticizing the world's materialistic views, arguing that as a materialistic and consumerist society we have lost our connection with nature and spiritual faith.

The opening phrase of the poem, "The world is too much with us," (1) suggests that we put too much of a strain on the world. It can be taken to mean that we are figuratively too much for the world to take, and put in context today, literally as well, given overpopulation and limited resource issues.

It is rather ironic that although William Wordsworth wrote this poem to apply to 1807, as it is probably by far more applicable to modern society. Wordsworth might have had some notion of this being the case in his line “late and soon” (1), which can be interpreted to mean both now (that is, 1807) and the future, being modern society. According to our interpretation of his poem, we believe Wordsworth's main message is that as a society we are out of sync with nature and do not appreciate the natural gifts of the earth. When one takes a look at today’s society, with global war, unsupported consumption, and global warming, it is probably much easier for us to understand Wordsworth critical message, than it might have been for readers at the time. Perhaps Wordsworth might have even meant it as a warning for the future? Even if it had not been intended as so, the poem's message can definitely be applied as a warning which, based upon what state the world is in now, we did not heed.

"Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers" (2) states that we use and overspend the world's resources, using our power to destroy nature. Wordsworth words this so that the phrase has a negative connotation, suggesting that the narrator of the poem dislikes the materialism and consumerism of "getting and spending" (2). This applies to the modern world today as we have a consumer-centric society obsessed with buying things, which is starting to have serious repercussions on the world's natural resources.

“Little we see in Nature that is ours” (3) says that we don’t see much in nature that we own. It may be interpreted that the human race feels peevish about this, in that we can’t control nature, although we own many other things.

The next line of the poem states that we have sold our hearts to materialism, and are therefore no longer in touch with nature. “A sordid boon” (4), literally a horrid gift, emphasizes that the narrator is regretful that the world has become obsessed with consumerism and materialistic gain.

__The World Is Too Much with Us__ then goes on to list some of the beauties of nature that people are missing out on. “This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,” (5) could imply that nature should be at the very core of humanity as the Sea is exposed to the moon. “The winds that will be howling at all hours,” (6) can be interpreted as an example of the immortality of nature in that the winds are always blowing.

"And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers" (7) compares the winds to flowers at night, seeming to imply that they die down and "rest" for the night. The next line, "For this, for everything, we are out of tune" (8) goes on to say that we are entirely separated from nature - possibly too much - and this thought continues in the next line, "It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be" (9), and continues a new thought, a cry to God. "A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn" (10) describes the opinion the speaker has of Pagans - that their religion is no longer used much; it is outdated. However, although the speaker believes that the Paganistic religion is outdated, they still state that they would prefer to be one.

"So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,/Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn" (11-2) follows the speaker's exclamation to God that the speaker would rather be a Pagan (and since he/she is talking to God, we know that they are not currently Pagan, and believe in God) so that they could be more in sync with nature, and thus happier. "Have sight of [|Proteus] rising from the sea;/Or hear old [|Triton] blow his wreathed horn." (13-4) continues the example of what aspects of beauteous nature the speaker could experience if they were a nature-embracing Pagan. The two lines are a description of two of the Pagan gods, which may seem a rather far-fetched view of nature, as it is unlikely that the speaker will actually see the gods, whether as a Pagan or not. It is also interesting to note that both of the gods mentioned are male, which reminds us that the poem was written before more widespread success of the feminist liberation movement.

The poetic device of allusion can be explained as an instance of indirect reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication. In the poem, there are two particularly noticeable allusions, both referring to classical characters from Greek myth. “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea” (13) refers to the ancient Greek myth of Proteus who was often called “the Old Man of the Sea”. According to myth, he herded the seal flocks of Poseidon. It was said that he could reveal the future, but also had the ability to shape shift in attempts to avoid doing so. “Or hear Triton blow his wreathed horn" (14) refers to Triton in ancient Greek mythology who was son of Poseidon and had a horn made of shell (conch) that could be blown to calm the ocean waves. These two references are probably meant to support the lines about paganism, and the overall argument of our need to get back in touch with nature, and that perhaps being a pagan would allow for better appreciation.  Another poetic device used in this poem is imagery. Imagery is the use of vivid descriptions with the purpose of causing the readers to picture the images in their minds. This helps give reason to ideas that might not make sense otherwise, and make appealing what might not otherwise be understood or enjoyed. An example in this poem is “ The winds that will be howling at all hours,/And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers” (6-7).

In addition, the use of sibilance in the poem enforces some of the descriptive imagery. For example, “So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,” (11) adds to the image of the quiet calmness of the meadow that the narrator is standing in. Sibilance in “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,” (13) adds to the imagery of the sea and wetness.

Some readers might be slightly distracted of the poems main argument by the allusions to Pagan beliefs. These allusions might lead some to wonder if Wordsworth’s argument has more to do with nature or religion. However, these allusions are most likely solely to back up his argument (that we are out of touch with nature) and have no anti-Christian or other religious implications to them. Rather than interpreting these allusions as a denouncement of faith, they probably have a meaning more along the lines of denouncing the modern society and regressing to a state of mind so that we might appreciate nature more.

Sources:
"Boon." //Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)//. Random House, Inc. 20 Nov. 2008. .

"Proteus." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Nov 2008. 17 Nov 2008. .

"PROTEUS." PROTEUS: Greek sea god, herd... 2008. 11 Dec. 2008. 

"Sordid." //Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)//. Random House, Inc. 17 Nov. 2008. .

"Triton (Mythology)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> 13 Oct. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 20 Nov. 2008. <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(mythology])>.

"Triton." TRITONS: Greek sea gods & myth... 2008. 11 Dec. 2008. <http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Tritones.html>

William Wordsworth photograph. Photograph. __The Chawed Rosin__. Ed. Lolarusa. 17 June 2008. 20 Nov. 2008. <http://chawedrosin.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud-by-william-wordsworth/>.

"William Wordsworth: The World Is Too Much with Us (1807)." __Contents of Reading__ __About the World, Vol. 2__. 23 Dec. 1998. 21 Nov. 2008. <[|http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/]wordsworth.html>. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"William Wordworth." __The Literature Network__. 2008. 20 Nov. 2008 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. <span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"William Wordsworth." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">. 3 Dec 2008, 14:58 UTC. 8 Dec 2008. < <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Wordsworth&oldid=255638471 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">>.