week 1.2

William Wordsworth: THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US

1807

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;

5

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;

10

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 wreathèd horn.

Discussion Question (150 words)

From above poem, post a response of at least 150 words.

• Identify a number of key images in the poem which you believe are vital to understanding it and provide a detailed discussion of how those images function in the poem.  

• Do the images work together to form a coherent pattern?  

• What ideas or feelings are conveyed by the images the author has selected?  

• How do they contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?