The World is Too Much with Us (Poem) by William Wordsworth (Third Year)

William Wordsworth

About the author:

William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who used to live in Lake District (England). With Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798).

William Wordsworth, the second child of John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, was born on April 7, 1770, at Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, which is now known as the Lake District. Throughout his lifetime, William Wordsworth maintained a close bond with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth, who was a poet and diarist. Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850.

The poem, “The World Is Too Much with Us" was first published in Poems, in Two Volumes (1807). “The World Is Too Much with Us" is a sonnet. Within the text, Wordsworth offers criticism of the society during the First Industrial Revolution, highlighting its preoccupation with materialism and detachment from nature.   Like most Italian sonnets, its 14 lines are written in iambic pentameter, and the rhyme scheme of the poem is ABBA ABBA CDCD CD. In the poem, the problems are conveyed through the first eight lines(octave), while the next six lines (sestet) propose the solution.  The poem expresses a revolt against the industrial revolution and criticizes the materialistic approach of man. It also criticizes ignoring nature: “little we see in nature that is ours”.

 

 

The World Is Too Much With Us             

                                                  ——WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

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 World Is Too Much With Us” Vocabulary:

Boon: blessing

Bosom: chest

Creed: belief (religious)

Forlorn: forsaken/ nearly hopeless

Sordid: dirty/unpleasant

 Suckled: breast-fed

Pagan: A pagan is someone who does not follow major world religions.

Proteus and Triton: They are Greek gods.

 a) Proteus: Proteus is the sea-god with prophetic powers.

 b) Triton: Triton was the son of the main ocean god. He is messenger of sea-god. He looked like a merman (part man, part fish) His trident and conch shell had the power to calm or disturb the waters.

 

 Figures of Speech in "The Word is Too Much with Us"

Figures of Speech (भाषा के अलंकार)	Lines from The Poem
Simile (उपमा): A simile compares two unlike things using "like" or "as". (उपमा दो विपरीत चीजों के बीच तुलना है जिसमें "जैसा"/” तरह” शब्दों का उपयोग किया जाता है।) Example:        1. Laxman walks like a lion.        2. Tom eats like a pig. Here: Laxman (Human)                                  Lion (Animal)	1. “And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;”
Metaphor (रूपक):  Metaphor is the art of comparing two totally different things without using "like" or "as". (रूपक  दो भिन्न चीज़ों के बीच संबंध स्थापित करते हैं। “जैसा"/” तरह” शब्दों का उपयोग किए बिना।) Example:           1. Laxman is a lion.           2. Tom is a pig.	1. “We have given our hearts away,..” 2. “Suckle in a creed outworn.” 3. “The winds that will be howling at all hours” 4. “out of tune”
Personification ( मनुष्यगुणारोप/ मानवीकरण)):  Personification is a literary device that humanizes inanimate objects for imagery.  Example:                 1. The sky is crying.                 2. The moon looked down to me.	1. “This sea that bears her bosom to the moon”;   2. “The winds that will be howling at all hours”   3. “sleeping flowers.”
Allusions (प्रसंग-संकेत): An allusion is a reference, whether direct or indirect, to a person, place, thing, or idea that holds historical, cultural, political, or literary significance. (संकेत किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति, स्थान, चीज़ या विचार का प्रत्यक्ष या अप्रत्यक्ष संदर्भ है जो ऐतिहासिक, सांस्कृतिक, राजनीतिक या साहित्यिक महत्व रखता है।) Example:               1. He is a modern day, Ravana.	1. “Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;   Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
Alliteration (अनुप्रास): Alliteration is the term given to the repetition of the same sound or letter (Consonant Sound) at the beginning of words in a phrase. (किसी वाक्यांश में शब्दों की शुरुआत में एक ही व्यंजन ध्वनि या अक्षर की पुनरावृत्ति को अनुप्रास कहते हैं I) Example:               1. Pooja prays for Pappu. (repeats the letter P)	1. The word is too much with us 2. We lay waste our powers 3. bares her bosom 4. The winds that will be howling
Imagery (चित्रात्मक): This figure of speech makes readers to visualize  the writer’s feelings, emotions, or ideas. ( यह अलंकार लेखक की भावनाओं या विचारों को समझने के लिए पाठकों को कल्पना कराता है I)	1. “winds that will be howling, “ 2. “sleeping flowers;” 3. “Proteus rising from the sea.”

 

Multiple-Choice Questions

1.  William Wordsworth died in

a) 1860

b) 1850

c) 1832

e) 1840

2. Wordsworth was born in

a) Boston

b) London

c) Cockermouth

d) Warwick

3. What was Wordsworth's sister's name?

a) Ruth William

b) Elizabeth William

c) Lucy William

d) Dorothy William

4. William Wordsworth was appointed Poet Laureate in?

a) 1830

b) 1837

c) 1843

d) 1850

5. Wordsworth was the poet of…                                              [ B.A. 2024]

a) city

b) love

c) nature

d) America

6. The poem ‘The World is Too Much with Us’ was published in

a) 1800

b) 1807

c) 1832

d) 1843

7. The poem ‘The World is Too Much with Us’ is written by:            [B.A. 2024]

a) William Wordsworth

b) William Butler Yeats

c) Samuel Tailor Coleridge

d) William Blake

8. The poem ‘The World is Too Much With Us’ poem written in

a) Iambic dimeter

b) Iambic trimeter

c) Iambic tetrameter

d) Iambic pentameter

9. ‘The World is Too Much With Us’ is _______?

a) Petrarchan Sonnet

b) Shakespearean Sonnet

c) Spenserian Sonnet

d) Miltonic Sonnet

10. Which option explains the title ‘The World is Too Much With Us’ more appropriately?

a) We are attached to the world a lot and it is a good thing

b) The world is too complex to handle

c)People are giving time to their family and friends

d)The focus on materialism has caused people to disregard the importance of nature.

11. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem" The World is Too much with Us"?

a) AAAA BABA ABBA

b)ABAB ABAB AAABBB

c) ABBA ABBA CDCDCD

d)ABCD ABCD DDDEEE

12. How many Greek Gods are described in this poem?              [B.A. 2024]

a) Two

b) Three

c) Four

d) None

13. What is the quality of Triton God?

a) He blows his conch in order to calm the waves

b) He represents fire and ice

c) He is a demigod of the sea

d) Both A and C

14. Identify the figure of speech in the line "The sea that bares her bosom to the moon".

a) Simile

b) Metaphor

c) Personification

d) Synecdoche

15. Who wishes to remain as pagan in the poem?

a) Tribal Man

b) Poet himself

c) Common Man

d) Nature

16. What is the speaker's suggestion about the human-nature relationship in the poem?

a) Humans are superior to nature

b) Humans should control nature

c) Humans are a part of nature

d) Humans should conquer nature

17. What is the tone of the poem “The World is Too Much with Us”?

a) Optimistic

b) Pessimistic

c) Ambivalent

d) Ironic

18. What is the meaning of the phrase “late and soon” in the poem?

a) Yesterday and tomorrow

b) Early and late

c) Quickly and slowly

d) Present and future

19. According to the poem, what do the sea and the winds represent?

a) Freedom

b) Nature’s power

c) God’s creation

d) Beauty

20. What literary device is used in the line “We have given our hearts away”?

a) Alliteration

b) Simile

c) Metaphor

d) Personification

21. What is the speaker’s attitude towards the “sordid boon” in the poem?

a) Appreciation

b) Admiration

c) Contempt

d) Lack of interest

22. What does "little we see in Nature that is ours" mean?

b) Our connection to nature is lost.

b) Nature is not really ours to possess

c) We cannot truly understand nature

d) Our efforts to protect nature are insufficient.

23. What gods from Greek mythology are referenced in the poem?

a) Poseidon and Hades

b) Hermes and Aphrodite.

c)Proteus and Triton

d) Zeus and Apollo.

24. What is described as baring "her bosom to the moon" in the poem?

a) The mountains

b) The sea

c) The wind

d) The sun

25. “The World is Too Much With Us” has ____ lines.

a) 24

b) 14

c) 18

d) 21            

26. In the poem, what is the wind compared to?

a) Running water

b) Sleeping flowers

c) Singing bird

d) Dancing peacock

27. What background does the poet desire?

a) Pagan

b) Catholic

c) Orthodox

d) Greek

28. What does the Sea give the moon?

a) Her water

b) Her hand

c) Her bosom

d) Her blessings

29. The poet wants to be a pagan in order to:

a) To reconnect with the forces of nature.

b) To reject societal expectations.

c) To experience the freedom

d) To discover spirituality beyond organized religion.

30. Triton is a God whose lower part is of a_____.

a) dog 

b) horse 

c) fish  

d) tiger