English Literature

Human beings are so consumed with the materialistic things in their lives that they fail to appreciate the beauty of nature and comprehend its significance in their lives. In pursuit of fulfillment of their materialistic needs, human beings have distanced themselves from nature and its pleasant beauty. The poem The World Is Too Much with Us by William Wordsworth focuses on this tendency of human beings to over-indulge in materialism, which is leading to detachment from nature. The poem is criticizing the modern society for failing to connect with nature owing to its inclination towards materialism.

In the poem The World Is Too Much with Us, the speaker is expressing his anger at the modern society for wasting its time and energies in accumulating materialistic things. The world is too much with us late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers. (Wordsworth lines 1-2). The speaker further mentions that owing to their attachment for materialism, human beings are ignoring nature and transforming into heartless beings. Little we see in Nature that is ours We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon (Wordsworth lines 3-4). The speaker also points out that the beauty of nature fails to evoke any kind of appreciation in the human beings. People are so engrossed in their materialistic living that they fail to notice the wonders of nature. The speaker presents the example of a storm to bring forth the uncaring attitude of human beings towards nature. The wonders of nature, which are revealed to the mankind in course of a storm, are never admired by the human things. They never think how the turbulent sea and roaring winds during a storm fall silent with the passing of the storm.
   
The speakers frustration regarding the unresponsive attitude of human beings towards nature makes him to wish to be a pagan, so that he is able to visualize the world from a different perspective and derive pleasure from the beautiful sights of nature. The speaker feels that as a pagan, he might be able to see ancient gods emerging from the sea waves and gain joy from those sights. 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 lines 10-14). The poem, with its condemning view of human beings penchant for materialism, brings forth the profligacy that has engulfed the society during the poets period.
             
The poem is a sonnet and consists of two parts, an octave and sestet. The rhyme scheme in the octave is abbaabba while in the sestet it is cdcdcd. The angry and sarcastic tone is maintained throughout the poem, as the poet expresses his disapproval at the societys proclivity towards materialism. The words used by the poet convey a strong message to the readers regarding the folly of human beings in pursuing a materialistic life. Through the words late and soon in the opening line of the poem, the poet conveys the thought that human beings were attached to materialism in the past and their attachment will continue in the future also. The words, sordid boon capture the detrimental consequences of materialism on the human lives, as materialism has rendered human beings soulless. In the first two lines of the poem, the poet speaks about human beings indulgence in materialism and then proceeds on to talk about the wonders of nature and the insensitive attitude of human beings towards nature  in the following lines. In the last paragraph, the poet mentions about his wish to be a pagan and connect with nature. The manner in which the poet has placed the lines shows that he considers himself to be different from the society. In the first paragraph of the poem, the poet refers to the society by using pronouns such as us and we whereas in the second paragraph the poet talks about himself and his individual desires.