Bill is Too Harsh With Us

“The World is Too Much With Us”, by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth, deals with man’s self-absorption and resulting disregard of nature in the early nineteenth century. The poem reads much like a pastor preaching from his pulpit; there is very little humility in the way Wordsworth scolds the reader for turning his or her back on Mother Nature’s gifts. Using both a threatening and frustrated tone along with a smattering of vivid imagery and metaphors, Wordsworth tries to warn his audience of an imminent threat before it becomes too late for mankind to redeem itself.

The first four lines of the sonnet address Wordsworth’s critical point: that the world is “too much with us”; in other words, that we dwell too much on our “material world”. In saying this, Wordsworth is not just talking about the material-capitalistic aspect of our lives. He is also referring to the rapid modernization and urbanization of his time. In doing so, Wordsworth argues that we have forgotten about the pure, simple joys to be found in Nature. When talking about “[g]etting and spending”, he bemoans the fact that we “lay waste our powers” by taking our world’s natural wonders for granted. These wonders are represented by our “hearts” which are, paradoxically, the very things that make us human.

The next three lines describe some of Nature’s awe-inspiring qualities, such as the sea that “bares her bosom to the moon” and the “howling” winds. Ironically, Wordsworth uses personification to describe such an inhuman force. Despite the awful magnificence of this apparent storm, Wordsworth exclaims that it “moves us not”. In being focused on our own selfish pursuits and material objectives, our eyes have become blind and our ears deaf to the natural world around us— even towards something so brutally powerful as a rampaging tempest.

The most interesting aspect of the poem begins halfway through the ninth line with the exclamation “Great God! I’d rather be / A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn”. Wordsworth is basically saying that he would rather be a pagan who is able to glean some joy from nature than belong to the materialistic 19th century society that he is surrounded by. The references to Greek mythology (Proteus and Triton, two sea gods) evoke a wistful longing for a return to an ancient world where Nature is revered. Wordsworth undoubtedly intended to shake pre-Victorian era England by renouncing both his society and his religion in the hopes of getting his point across.

Starting out as a gentle admonition, climaxing as a hopeless revelation, and ending with a pensive yet dramatic reflection, “The World Is Too Much With Us” uses many different styles of tone to guilt, teach, and shock the audience into realizing what they have become. While nineteenth century Englishmen thought they were becoming more and more “civilized” and “human”, Wordsworth argues that they are only reverting more and more to the base human tendencies of greed and egotism. In this desperate, apocalyptic plea for change, Wordsworth implicitly and explicitly states that the only hope for mankind lies in drastic action being taken to reverse such an unnatural course.

Discussion Questions:

1) Does anyone disagree with my interpretation of the poem? If so, please elaborate.

2) What is the significance of the “pagan” references in the poem?

3) Is the world too much with us? In other words, does this poem bring up an important issue in today’s society?

4) Why do you think Wordsworth is so upset about our growing insensitivity towards Nature?