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 beA 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.

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.

Elements seen in this poem include:

• Imagination• Nature• Symbols• Emotion• Self• And Individualism

Imagination

• Wordsworth’s expression is dreamlike.• He expresses possibility and wishful thoughts.– “I'd rather be”– “So might I”

• He also makes references to the Gods.– “Proteus rising from the sea”– “Triton blow his wreathèd horn”

Nature• There are obvious references to nature in this poem.• The poem itself is a call to appreciate the beauty in nature

than many disregard and neglect.• Specific references to nature are highlighted in green below:

– 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 beA 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.

Symbols• The most apparent symbol in this poem is the

reference in line 1 to “the world.”– “The world” is a reference to anything that is not nature.– Wordsworth would have seen this as corruption,

therefore, “world” is a symbol for corruption in Wordsworth’s poem.

• “Nature,” on the other hand, is an opposing symbol.– It is surrounded by images of peace and harmony.– Wordsworth even provides nature with an image of

strength.• He says “we lay waste our powers” when we are not appreciative of nature.

– Nature, therefore is a symbol for righteousness, purity, peace, and strength in Wordsworth’s poem.

Emotion• Because of Wordsworth’s attachment to nature, the reader is

bombarded with the speaker’s expression of emotion.– The reference to the heart implies a disgust the speaker feels at the

lack of emotion in others.• “We have given our hearts away”

– The exclamation at the end of that line suggests a strong emotional movement.• “a sordid boon!”

– Again, in line 9, the speaker notes his disgust that emotion does triumph over the reader’s connection to the corrupt “world”• “It moves us not.”

– Followed by another exclamation in which the speaker proclaims his preference to experience and appreciate nature.• “Great God! I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn”

Self

• The presence of “self” in this poem is simply stated and easily recognized.

• The poem is told through a first person narrative.

• The speaker refers to himself as “I” and the reader as “you” or “us.”

• The poem is an intimate conversational piece between the reader and the poet, whose ideals shine through the lyric.

Individualism• Individualism and the idea of the poet as a “romantic

hero” is another element that can be easily pointed out through Wordsworth’s poem.

• The poem is at once “bold, suggestive, and experimental” in tone and quality through its wild exclamations and its form which closely resembles natural speech patterns.

• The poem also suggests that the poet is “inspired,” having great knowledge and a keen understanding of the essence and beauty of nature, while the people surrounding him remain ignorant; trapped within the confines of a corrupt “world.”

The following items will be checked for your grade:

• The opening slide is the title of the poem and the poet’s name. (5)

• The second slide is the text of the poem.(5)• The student effectively dissects the poem.(15)• The student provides appropriate, thoughtful images to

represent specific pieces of the poem.(30)• The student includes at least 6 elements of Romantic poetry.

(15)• The student effectively explains the elements found in the

poem(15)• The student provides references to the poem to support each

explanation. (10)• The student’s name and the date is on the final slide.• A deduction of 10 points will be taken for each late day!• The projects will be presented on Monday, November 28.