“The World Is Too
Much with Us”
William Wordsworth
S
Wordsworth & Romanticism
S Wordsworth (1770-1850) is one of the founders of Romanticism:
S begins in the last half of the 18th century (late 1700s)
S is a reaction to (1) Industrial Revolution, or dependence on
machines, factories, technology, and (2) The Age of
Enlightenment, or scientific and rational ways for examining the
world. The Romantics felt that these radical changes in the world
– the way it worked and the way we perceived it – left out the
emotional, spiritual, and artistic/aesthetic aspect of life.
S represents attempt to recapture spiritual connection to life and to
the world around us by returning to/reconnecting with nature
Another Sonnet!
S Although we are roughly 200 years past Shakespeare and
Donne, Wordsworth, too, utilizes the sonnet form.
S “The World Is Too Much with Us” is an Italian/Petrarchan
sonnet with rhyme scheme abba abba cdcdcd
S I’ll analyze how deviations in form and meter in the first 9
lines of the poem (essentially the octave) reveal the main
problem in the “world” of the poem – a weakening of
human spiritual strength due to reliance on material
possessions rather than communion with Nature.
Metrical Deviations
S Not written in perfect iambic pentameter
S “Getting | and spend |ing, we| lay waste |our powers” (l. 2)
S A trochee immediately emphasizes the verb “get” – suggests
accumulation, consumption, & obsession with material things
S A spondee emphasizes our “lay[ing] waste” to our natural
“powers” by indulging in this materiality. Waste is usually
associated with rampant consumption where we have more than
we need. Here it takes on two meanings – noun and verb (to
destroy). (Powers is usually scanned as one word in older poetry.)
S Together these deviations show we have been thrown off balance
by the material world and have destroyed something important by
not seeking the answers in Nature.
Metrical Deviations Cont’d.
S “We have | given| our hearts |away,| a sor|did boon!” (l.
4)
S
An extra iamb! Emphasizes our heart as a “gift” (boon) – a
material object.
S
Extra emphasis is placed on this “giving” away through the
trochee of foot 2. Perhaps it is this giving away of our heart that
makes it “sordid.” Involving our heart in the cycle of getting,
giving, and spending corrupts it.
S
Extra iamb also indicates that we are out of rhythm (with iambic
pentameter, also Nature) because we indulge in this materiality.
“We” are to blame for lacking emotional/spiritual strength – crux
of the problem.
Metrical Deviations Cont’d.
S “For this, | for ev |erything,| we are |out of tune;” (l. 8)
S
We have five feet here, but the last is an amphimacer (stress,
unstress, stress). The fact that we are “out of tune” is emphasized
by this foot in terms of length and stresses. Here again is the main
problem – we are not in communion, in rhythm, in sync with
Nature.
The Volta
S
“It moves | us not.| –Great God!...” (l. 9)
S
The volta is highly emphasized in this poem by: (1) it’s form as a
spondee; (2) the word choice, which in Wordsworth’s time amounted
to the same thing as a swear word; (3) overemphasized punctuation
through the period, long dash, and the exclamation point surrounding
the spondee.
S
This is a highly stressed moment in the poem literally shown by
stresses and word choice. The punctuation enact two caesurae – one
occurs before the spondee (period & dash) and one occurs after the
spondee (exclamation point). These pauses isolate this moment of
pain, perhaps showing hesitancy in coming to terms with both the
problem and its solution.
The Volta Cont’d
S The volta, instead of occurring between lines 8 and 9,
occurs in the middle of line 9:
S
Represents belated shift from octave (problem: we are too
materialistic and divorced from nature) to sestet (solution: I’ll
return to nature through rejection of Christian civilization and
acceptance of Pagan mythology).
Discussion Question
S An important thematic question relates to the gender issues
in the poem:
S How should we make sense of the maternal imagery of the
sea’s “bosom” and a Pagan “suckled” in relation to the male
figures in the poem of Proteus and Triton?