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!
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 wreathรจd horn.
William Wordsworth
Purpose:
William Wordsworth's poem, "The World is Too Much With Us" provides insight into the poet's desire to both educate his readers about the damage that is being done to the world by humans and to simultaneously prompt these same readers to reflect on their place in nature. Such purposes are articulated by Wordsworth in a blatant manner, throughout the poem, as a direct result of the poetic techniques that he utilises. His use of collective first person, a language choice that is employed firstly in the title and then throughout the poem, immediately signposts to readers that the issues raised by Wordsworth are not simply the insignificant musings of one individual. Rather, they are pertinent to all human beings as we are the ones "lay[ing] waste our powers", "we have given our hearts away" and "we are out of tune". Through these statements, Wordsworth is ostensibly pleading with humanity to open its eyes and not only see the damage that is being caused to nature but to also take responsibility for it. The use of collective first person in these instances is a powerful choice as it prevents the audience from dismissing the message as unrelated to their own individual circumstances; ultimately, one cannot escape the words "we" and "us". Such inclusion in the poem for the audience is what consequently enables Wordsworth to achieve his second purpose: affecting the reader to a point where they are compelled to evaluate their own role in this destruction of the natural world. The reader is forced to consider why they are unmoved by the beauty and power of nature and to wonder whether they themselves are so fixated by "getting and spending" that they too have become blind to the fact that in reality, "little [they] see in nature is [theirs]". This assertion by Wordsworth that humanity has claimed ownership for things that are not rightfully ours is one that appeals directly to the conscience of the reader and inevitably asks them to reflect on their own values and morals. In these ways, Wordsworth is able to take the audience on a journey of reflection that may result in changed perspectives and approaches to the natural world.
