The World is Too Much With Us

-William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth
He was born April 7, 1770 in

Cockermouth, Cumbria, England. His mother died when he was eight and soon after his father also died, leaving his siblings and he to an orphanage. After his late semester in college he toured Europe to learn more about poetry and political sensibilities.

The World Is Too Much With Us

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! The 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 wreathed horn. "Wordsworth, William. 1888. Complete Poetical Works." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww317.html>.

Poem Paraphrase
The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: This reflects his complaint towards the fast pace of the age in the world. Little we see in Nature that is ours, We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! We are letting our progress in the world take over the wonders of nature to where we dont notice it. 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, Up-gathered like sleeping flowers is an image he uses to make the point of how the winds that will be howling at all hours are internal noises, or the noise of industry at all hours.

Poem Paraphrase Cont.

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; The above two lines are the venting of his anger. Hed rather be like a pagan, for instance believing Greek gods, than part of a world that is destroying nature and calling itself Christian. He is not saying he doesnt believe in God. He just expresses his anger at the world to God. 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. He feels it would be so much simpler to go back the pagan beliefs of the Greeks of giving in to all things of nature. Proteus was one of the mythological Greek gods of the sea, and Triton was the son of Poseidon and Aphrodite whose horn was a conch shell for controlling the waters.

Vocabulary
The diction of the poem takes on a more formal, abstract, vivid, and obsolete form. It uses words such as: Lea- Grassland, land used for pasturing. Forlorn- Dreary, unhappy, sad. Sordid- Greedy, selfish. Boon- Benefit Wee- very small Bosom- Persons breast/ part of dress conveying this one who is dear and close Pagan Not a believer in any of the chief religions of the world. Reference: Encarta Dictionary

Tone and Mood

In William Wordsworth's sonnet "The World Is Too

Much with Us" he conveys his frustration about the state in which he sees the world. Throughout the poem the speaker repeatedly states his irritation with how out of touch the world has become with nature. With his dissatisfaction comes a harsh tone that criticizes the Industrial Revolution and the toll it has taken on the environment. Wordsworths mood throughout the overall poem is one of frustration and irritation.
"Tone in William Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much with Us" Summary | BookRags.com." BookRags.com | Study Guides, Lesson Plans, Book Summaries and More. BookRags, Inc. Web. 11 Feb. 2011. <http://www.bookrags.com/essay2003/12/2/21405/6553>.

Rhetorical Situation
William Wordsworth is speaking, speaking to

everybody in the world, about the industrial revolution, and it was to explain his frustration with the world. Talking to you. We are being spoken to directly because he is using the term we.

How is the poem structured?

Yes it has standard form, It is like a sonnet because it also has 14 lines. The poem is free verse. Rhyme pattern: A B C A A C B A D E D E D E
Fralin , G. K. "Poetry Analysis: The World Is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth (article) by G K Fralin on AuthorsDen." AuthorsDen. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. <http://www.authorsden.com/categories/article_top.asp?catid =54&id=44124>.

 Language Focus:

Basic Sentence Patterns

English Sentence follow a variety of patterns. The simplest pattern is the Subject-Verb Pattern.

The world is too much with us

The Grammar Dogs present

Sentence Patterns
(Patterns with Transitive Verb)

Terminology

S = Subject V = Verb

DO = Direct Object
IO = Indirect Object OC = Object Complement

S-V
The dog eats.
The dog is eating. The dog is outside.

The dog is in the

house. The dog jumps over the house.

Subject-Transitive Verb-Direct Object (S-TV-DO)

The d.o. is always a noun
The d.o. will always follow an action verb- an

action that you can do to someone or to something The d.o. will answer the question WHO or WHAT The d.o. will NEVER be in a prepositional phrase (cross them out!)

S-TV-DO
The dog eats food.
The dog is eating

my lunch. I grab my lunch. The dog bites my hand.

More Examples
He saw his fish in the sea.

The birds in the air inspire him.

Indirect Objects!
There must be a direct object
Therefore, there must be an action verb The indirect object will always come BEFORE the

d.o. The indirect object answers the questions TO WHOM, TO WHAT, or FOR WHOM The i.o. is NEVER in a prep phrase The i.o. is ALWAYS a noun

Verbs commonly used with indirect objects:

SEND
LEND BRING

GIVE

S-V-IO-DO
The dog brought me

his bone. I gave him a treat. I sent my cousin a photo of my dog.

Examples:
Scotty lent me five dollars for lunch.
Adam brought his teacher an apple on

Monday.
The sight of the flowers gave him much

pleasure.

The Objective Complement

An objective complement is an adjective

or a noun that appears with a direct object and describes or renames it.
These do not occur often.

Object Complements
Object Complements can either be nouns or adjectives. They restate the direct object.
I made my dog angry. (angry = adjective)
I consider my dog a good companion.

(companion = noun)

Rules
Objective

complements do not occur often. They are used only with the following verbs:

Appoint

Name
Make Think

Call

More rules
An objective complement can only be

found in a sentence with a direct object. To determine if a word is an objective complement, say the verb and the direct object, then ask What?

S-V-DO-OC
The girl named her

dog Bingo. The girl considered her dog intelligent.

Examples
Ben called his dog Rover.

(Called his dog what?)

The beautician made Annes hair short

and curly. (made Annes hair what?)

Recognizing the OC
The poet considers nature his

inspiration.
Natures beauty makes him happy. That pleasant woman called me kind

and helpful.

Put it all together!

Write a paragraph which includes the

following sentence patterns:

S-V S-V-DO S-V-IO-DO S-V-DO-OC