Analysis of "The World Is Too Much With Us" by William Wordsworth (Blog #11)

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 wreathèd horn.

The poem is about humans and their impact on the world. We waste our "powers" on us and our own advancement, turning away from nature. We put our faith, time, and energy into ourselves. We don't pay attention to the sea, the moon, the wind, NATURE anymore. It no longer moves us emotionally and spiritually. The speaker wishes he were a Pagan (from research, I discovered that meant he wishes to worship old values) so that he could look at nature and appreciate it better. That way, the speaker might be able to see powerful mythical gods rise from the sea. He wants to be able to adore nature whole-heartedly.

Astoundingly, in 1807 when William Wordsworth published it, this poem refers to very specific scientific aspects of nature ("this Sea that bares her bosom to the moon", the connection of the ocean's tides to the gravity pull of the moon) and reveals interesting predictions about the future understanding of the ocean. He also uses the ocean, sea, or things related to bodies of water (Gods) in order to elaborate his desire to appreciate nature. Wordsworth worshiped water, which is an interesting considering, again, the year of publication. Water was no a resource lacking or in high demand. Whereas today, we're trying to find new and better ways to preserve and and sterilize water. California is also currently going through a drought. So, again, Wordsworth predicts the importance of nature future and its values.

Wordsworth mentions Gods of the sea and ocean to put emphasis on the fantasy that nature will be worshiped again. He wishes to see glimpses of Proteus (Old Man of the Sea, controls the constant change of the sea) and Triton (messenger of the sea) mythical figures, which represents the absurdity and mythical quality to the desire to see nature valued again. The shift in the poem, where the speaker desires to be a Pagan (desire to live by older values, not worshiping nature) might represent the changing tides of the ocean, like the changing tides of human desire. While the poem, on the surface, may be about nature and the ocean, it's more likely about human nature, constantly changing ways of life and philosophy.