“The World is Too Much With Us” -William Wordsworth By: Mandy Spangler and Charlotte Richardson

William Wordsworth  He was born April 7, 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumbria, England.  His mother died when he was eight and soon after his father also died, leaving his siblings and he to an orphanage.  After his late semester in college he toured Europe to learn more about poetry and political sensibilities.

William Wordsworth Cont.  His earliest poetry was published in  He married his childhood friend Mary Hutchinson and had five children together.  His most famous work was The Prelude which was published three months after his death by his wife.  He died April 23, 1850 from pleurisy. "William Wordsworth." Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More. Academy of American Poets. Web. 07 Feb *Slides 2 & 3

The World Is Too Much With Us 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! The 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. "Wordsworth, William Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 07 Feb

Poem Paraphrase “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:” This reflects his complaint towards the fast pace of the age in the world. “Little we see in Nature that is ours, We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” We are letting our progress in the world take over the wonders of nature to where we don’t notice it. “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,” Up-gathered like sleeping flowers is an image he uses to make the point of how the “winds that will be howling at all hours” are internal noises, or the noise of industry at all hours.

Poem Paraphrase Cont. “It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;” The above two lines are the venting of his anger. He’d rather be like a pagan, for instance believing Greek gods, than part of a world that is destroying nature and calling itself Christian. He is not saying he doesn’t believe in God. He just expresses his anger at the world to God. “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.” He feels it would be so much simpler to go back the pagan beliefs of the Greeks of giving in to all things of nature. Proteus was one of the mythological Greek gods of the sea, and Triton was the son of Poseidon and Aphrodite whose horn was a conch shell for controlling the waters.

Poem Paraphrase Cont. Fralin, G. K. "Poetry Analysis: The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (article) by G K Fralin on AuthorsDen." AuthorsDen. Web. 08 Feb

Diction The diction of the poem takes on a more formal, abstract, vivid, and obsolete form. It uses words such as:  Lea- Grassland, land used for pasturing.  Forlorn- Dreary, unhappy, sad.  Sordid- Greedy, selfish.  Boon- Benefit Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 08 Feb

Tone and Mood  In William Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us" he conveys his frustration about the state in which he sees the world. Throughout the poem the speaker repeatedly states his irritation with how out of touch the world has become with nature. With his dissatisfaction comes a harsh tone that criticizes the Industrial Revolution and the toll it has taken on the environment.  Wordsworth’s mood throughout the overall poem is one of frustration and irritation. "Tone in William Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us" Summary | BookRags.com." BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More. BookRags, Inc. Web. 11 Feb

Rhetorical Situation  William Wordsworth is speaking, speaking to everybody in the world, about the industrial revolution, and it was to explain his frustration with the world.  Talking to you. We are being spoken to directly because he is using the term “we”.

Figurative Language  “And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers” is saying that the hours, change and the fast pace, is stealing away the unity of nature.  “The winds that will be howling at all hours” the wind is the noise of the industry at all hours and they can be both internal or external noises.  Fralin, G. K. "Poetry Analysis: The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (article) by G K Fralin on AuthorsDen." AuthorsDen. Web. 08 Feb

Imagery  A. “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.” These lines create a mental picture that allows you to see Wordsworth on a shore, shaking his fist with anger about the abuse geared towards nature, showing how he really feels.  B.Hear: you can just hear the anger of people during the industrial revolution. How the people disliked what was happening and they were voicing their opinion on how they felt about that time period.  “Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.” You can hear Triton’s noise that he has just blown from the conch shell.  Sight: “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;” you can just picture a mythological Greek God rising from the Sea.

Imagery Cont.  C. Symbolism: The Wind- It’s the noise of the factories that is constantly annoying a number of people.  Fralin, G. K. "Poetry Analysis: The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (article) by G K Fralin on AuthorsDen." AuthorsDen. Web. 08 Feb

How Does Sound Contribute to the Effect of the Poem  The poem does rhyme for example moon and boon, however it doesn’t have a specific rhyme scheme.  In Line 9 alliteration occurs with the phrase Great God! The Consonant G is repeated twice.  Two examples of cacophony are suckled and howling.  One examples of euphony is pleasant lea.

How is the poem structured?  Yes it has standard form, It is like a sonnet because it also has 14 lines.  The poem is free verse.  Rhyme pattern: A B C A A C B A D E D E D E  Fralin, G. K. "Poetry Analysis: The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (article) by G K Fralin on AuthorsDen." AuthorsDen. Web. 08 Feb