William Wordsworth’s sonnet “The world is too much with us” was published for the first time in Poems, In Two Volumes 1807. This collection is known for its romantic exaltation on nature. Although the sonnet is often read as a criticism of nineteenth-century society’s discordance with nature, this essay will argue that the poem is actually an ode to nature’s imagination. This essay will explore the nature of man and nature’s dissolution as a creative unit, historical interpretations, and Wordsworth’s value in divine experience.
Wordsworth originally referred to the union between nature and man. This traditional facilitates creativity as being threatened. The Petrarchan sonnet is a classic example of a Petrarchan speaker extolling his loved one’s virtues. Wordsworth, however, defies conventions and laments the ignorance of humanity to the Romantic sentiments his ‘beloved” nature can engender. Wordsworth employs fractured lines to highlight the self-indulgent nature of mankind in the octave. Wordsworth introduces in this section, using caesura, parallel themes about materialism and the subsequent loss of creative power. Wordsworth makes the point that consumerism’s inexorable nature is undermining our imaginative creative abilities by using the plural participle and the present participle. Wordsworth demonstrates his imaginative abilities by combining the present participle with the plurality of the speaker’s rhetoric. Wordsworth creates a triplet of natural scenes that demonstrate his poetic ability. The elemental, alliterative motif shows the extent of nature’s imagination. The three-state representation of nature, which includes sexual, powerful, and peaceful states, highlights the man’s creativity to draw inspiration from nature’s extremes. This is further reinforced when the exclamatoryvolta, “it drives us not-Great God” declares that rhyme and voice have changed. “So mightI” Wordsworth has a unique rhyme scheme that allows him to express his ideal. The speaker can now imagine his freedom through the sestet and is free from the constraints of society decadence. This criticism is obvious in the poem’s opening lines, as the various interpretations and emphatic metaphors make it clear: “We have gave our hearts away, a wicked boon!” Tianyu ma understands that the oxymoronic’sordid boon’ may simply be an immoral gift. “boon,” which stands for “A gift of a benefit, blessing or advantage”, is what Tianyu Ma interprets. This is a clear example of mankind’s inability to see the beauty and value of the natural world. “From the seventeenth Century onward […] “boon” could be any gift that is received, even if the recipient did not ask for it. On closer examination, however, it appears that “boon”, which is associated with religious meanings, was established in 1175. “A prayer, to God and Christ, etc.” Wordsworth could argue that by replacing a word with religious meaning with the sour adjective, “sordid”, Wordsworth condemns modern Christianity and blames it for the abandonment of natural inspiration. Man now turns inwards toward prayer. This is a negative suggestion for imagination. The speaker later states that he would rather be a pagan who is suckled in an outworn creed. Wordsworth uses an infantile metaphor and a radical tone to suggest that even Paganism can be a viable alternative to the present world. He also believes it is devoid of imagination.
Wordsworth is also continuing his fight against modern religion by promoting creativity that results from the elements of nature. This is evident in Wordsworth’s sublime imagery as well as the classical allusions to ancient Greek gods.
The speaker imagines Proteus’ sight and Triton’s horn. But he also imagines engaging in this act of imagination. Wordsworth draws inspiration from ancient deities by using unassertive rhetoric. “Have glimpses…have vision” is an anaphoric, visual language that Wordsworth describes as his ideal. Wordsworth contrasts quiet observation of nature with the incessant “getting” and “spending” of industrial society. Romantic conventions are best illustrated when Wordsworth invokes the symbolic, personified sea gods, giving them a sublime glory with grandiose rhetorical and poignant tones. In this way, Wordsworth romanticizes old faith, and makes it part of his imagination. As Proetus emerges from the ocean’s depths, this sonnet actually echoes the ability of the gods for inspiration to arise in nature.
Wordsworth exposes the decline of society and natural beauty in “The World is Too Much With Us”. He cites the shift in society from spiritual encounters, to debauchery, as the reason for this separation. Wordsworth’s pantheism, which is implied at the end, embraces a multi-faceted faith. He finds spirituality in nature and its imaginative ability. Wordsworth says that nature was not just a plant, but a manifestation God. Wordsworth proposes a solution. To regain “our hearts”, “our powers”, and to tentatively allow nature into our lives, we must be open to it. Only when we are done with our materialistic crusade & rediscovered our imagination, the world will stop being “too big with us”.