General Meaning.
"The World Is Too Much With Us" criticizes what Wordsworth saw as the degenerate material cynicism of the time. This relatively simple poem heatedly states that human beings are too preoccupied with the material ("The world.getting and spending") and have lost touch with the spiritual and with nature. In the sestet, the speaker dramatically proposes an impossible personal solution to his problem, he wishes he could have been raised as a pagan. Why a pagan? Because pagans created a colourful mythology out of their awe of Nature.
On the whole, this sonnet offers an angry summation of the familiar Wordsworthian theme of communion with nature, and states precisely how far the early nineteenth century was from living out the Wordsworthian ideal (Sparknotes.com, 2003).
Detailed Meaning.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,.
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;.
The first two lines of the poem clearly express the whole idea of it by showing the speaker's concern and disgust for the shameless destruction of our environment and society's indifference towards it. People are growing in number, but it doesn't give us more wisdom to respect Nature, instead people tend to corrupt it by using their power.
Wordsworth was keen enough to discern the way people improve their lives in order to give benefit society, but not without taking a high toll on the environment. This is reflected on how "getting and spending, we lay waste our powers"; the way people today blindly and selfishly seek personal fulfillment without taking into account who or what gets in the way. .
Little we see in Nature that is ours;.
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!.
These lines show us how people do not think twice before taking anything nature has to offer for their advantage. However, the price must still be paid, and as time goes by, its importance becomes undeniable, and people themselves will be held responsible for their self destruction.
Wordsworth and Writing his Defense What is love? ... This is the way Wordsworth was able to write these poems from a mother's perspective. ... Once his mother dies, Wordsworth's alliance with nature is essentially unmediated. ... Wordsworth). ... Maybe Wordsworth did leave Vallon for another love "poetry. ...
William Wordsworth's poem "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is considered one of the best poems in history. ... The language that Wordsworth used in this poem, is very simple yet very powerful. ... For example Wordsworth used personification to tell that the daffodils were "fluttering" and "dancing" in the breeze, or how the lake waves and his heart "dance". Wordsworth used similes as well, for example the title of the poem is a simile itself "I wandered lonely AS a cloud" or "Continuous AS the stars that shine.... Some sound devices tha...
Analysis of "Tintern Abbey" Whereas most individuals tend to see nature as a playhouse that should alter and self-destruct to their every need, William Wordsworth had a very different view. ... Wordsworth wrote this poem, as cited by Wordsworth without " any part of it was written down till I reached Bristol" (F.W. ... Wordsworth attempts to compare and contrast two worlds, Brian Barbour states "Wordsworth's basic strategy is to appeal to the spiritual while remaining entirely within the natural order"(Barbour p.154). ... Wordsworth grew and changed dramatically maturing spiritually, men...
Analysis of "Tintern Abbey" Whereas most individuals tend to see nature as a playhouse that should alter and self-destruct to their every need, William Wordsworth had a very different view. ... Wordsworth wrote this poem, as cited by Wordsworth without " any part of it was written down till I reached Bristol" (F.W. ... Wordsworth attempts to compare and contrast two worlds, Brian Barbour states "Wordsworth's basic strategy is to appeal to the spiritual while remaining entirely within the natural order"(Barbour p.154). ... Wordsworth grew and changed dramatically maturing spiritually, men...
Wordsworth explores the human feelings of fear and morbid fantasy that strike him from time to time. ... Wordsworth builds up the poem and conveys his ideas very effectively using language, structure and features of poetry. Wordsworth creates the feeling of a evolving story, drawing the reader in, especially with his manipulation of the poem's pace and suspense. ... Particularly the language Wordsworth uses builds up the ideas about passion he is trying to convey. ... This poem appealed to me especially because of the suspense Wordsworth creates. ...
The extent of analysis, allowed me to realize appreciation is closely tied to emotions. ... This, to an extent, is similar to Wordsworth personifying daffodils when he writes, "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance" (12), except he saturates his writing with figures of speech unlike Stevens. ... However Wordsworth may have gone a little overboard. ... This ocean being compared with is very likely non-existent and it is very likely this entire poem is about a plain garden and the beauty Wordsworth sees in it. ... Therefore Wordsworth must be given the benefit of the doubt, as we,...
The work was constructed to be the beginning piece in Lyrical Ballads, a two-volume set written by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. ... Wordsworth even bluntly described the piece as being in the wrong overall meter (Fry, 12). ... Some of the methods used to decipher "The Rime" have included reader-response, Marxist, new historicism, psychoanalytic, and even deconstruction analysis. ... With his wife and the Wordsworths gone, Coleridge was forced to undergo his addiction alone. ... Wordsworth visited him and the two even toured the Rhine together (Fry, 8). ...
The work was constructed to be the beginning piece in Lyrical Ballads, a two-volume set written by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. ... Wordsworth even bluntly described the piece as being in the wrong overall meter (Fry, 12). ... Some of the methods used to decipher "The Rime" have included reader-response, Marxist, new historicism, psychoanalytic, and even deconstruction analysis. ... With his wife and the Wordsworths gone, Coleridge was forced to undergo his addiction alone. ... Wordsworth visited him and the two even toured the Rhine together (Fry, 8). ...
Although many great names are associated with Romantic literature, two poets who stand out as immensely influential figures are William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. ... Thus, an analysis of the relationships between nature and physical sensations, and their roles in the formation and function of imagination in Wordsworths "Tintern Abbey" and Anna Barboulds "A Summer Evenings Meditation," demonstrate the ways in which these poems constitute Romantic lyrics. ... This emphasis on the human minds capability "of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants" is Word...
