Poem Analysis 7: The World Is Too Much With Us

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.

In the beginning of the poem, and even in the title, the speaker states his overall message. Unlike other poems I have already read before, this one clearly conveys the meaning of the poem as a whole. This message of "the world being overpowering, yet stunning at the same time" is a super alluring topic! I believe that some of the people in our world not only take nature for granted sometimes, but never get a chance to enjoy it because there's SO MUCH of it. Right away, I thought about nature as the main target for the speaker. Throughout the poem, he/she continues to provide examples of nature like "the Sea" and "the winds"; and better yet, he includes "Nature" as well. Though nature seems to be a huge part of this poem, the speaker may also be upset with the destruction of such balance between nature and man.

Reading the poem several times, I wonder if the speaker is actually sick of Nature. He/She elaborates on the idea of giving our hearts away; to give away our heart to Nature. Better yet, the speaker may be super disappointed in what Nature has to offer and is useless to man. I believe that the speaker is just in denial and super clueless with his views on Nature in our world. It's like a love hate relationship. It frustrates me that he/she can't just go with the flow. Instead, they sarcastically complain about the good and bad aspects of Nature and how it affects us individuals. Overall, this poem is just a sad representation of man versus Nature.