The World is too Much With Us
by William Wordsworth
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In this sonnet Wordsworth laments that materialism has cut human beings off from Nature. 'Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers'; we see little in Nature that is ours and have 'given our hearts away, a sordid boon'. We are out of tune with the sea baring her bosom to the moon and the winds gathered like sleeping flowers, these move us not. In despair the poet cries that he would rather be a 'Pagan suckled in a creed outworn', so that, standing on a pleasant meadow, he might glimpse the old sea-gods Proteus and Triton and feel less forlorn. The poem is a passionate protest against a civilisation that has lost its living bond with the natural world.
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Materialism lays waste our powers
The poet complains that 'the world is too much with us'; caught up endlessly in 'getting and spending', we waste our finer powers. We see little in Nature that truly belongs to us and have given our hearts away for a 'sordid boon', a cheap, base gain.
Out of tune with Nature
The sea baring her bosom to the moon and the howling winds now gathered up 'like sleeping flowers' should stir us, but 'for this, for everything, we are out of tune; / It moves us not.' Humanity has become deaf and blind to the beauty and grandeur of the natural world.
A longing for pagan wonder
In despair the poet cries out that he would rather be 'a Pagan suckled in a creed outworn', for then, standing on a pleasant meadow ('lea'), he might have glimpses that make him 'less forlorn', seeing Proteus rise from the sea or hearing old Triton blow his 'wreathèd horn'. Even an outworn faith that kept alive a sense of wonder seems better than modern spiritual emptiness.