The world is too much with us William Wordsworth The poem The world is too much with us is a sonnet

t written by William Wordsworth in the Romantic period. Specifically, the poem is an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet as opposed to an English or Elizabethan sonnet. The Italian sonnet, as displayed in The world is too much with us, is composed of two distinct parts. The first is an eight-line octave and the second is a six-line sestet. The rhyme scheme of the octave in Wordsworths sonnet is ABBAABBA. The rhyme scheme of the sestet is CDCDCDIn toto, 14 lines. Wordsworth most likely employs the Italian sonnet over the English sonnet for the benefit of the rhetorical structure of the poem. A problem is stated in the octave and a solution or counter argument is given in the sestet. In the first quatrain of the octave Wordsworth presents the problem of modern life. Wordsworth tries to persuade the reader that the burgeoning consumerism of early industrialism may seem positive but in fact it is negative. In the second line Wordsworth states, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: This line illuminates the circular nature of consumerism: getting, spending, getting, spending. This cycle of consumerism feeds on itself; the apparent end of the cycle is only to obtain more: to get and spend. In doing this we are wasting our powers or obfuscating our true potential. The third line takes on societies possessive nature. Little we see in nature that is ours. People use nature for the benefit of industrialism and consumerism but it really isnt theirs to use. Along with the other things we traded for material gain, line four states that we have also given away our hearts. The second quatrain of the octave describes nature and what humans have done to nature with consumerism and industrialism. In lines five and six Wordsworth personifies nature. He gives two contradictory descriptions of the elements to elucidate the duality of nature. The sea is personified as vulnerable and feminine. The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon. The winds, however, are personified as wild and untamedthe other side of nature. The Winds [howl] at all hours like wolves or any other wild beast. Also, in making Sea and Winds proper nouns, Wordsworth is personifying these elements as Gods. Humans have taken both these aspects and used them for their own ends. They have ravaged the vulnerable Sea and tamed the wild Winds. In doing this we have become out-of-touch with nature because we have turned it into something it is not, For this, for every thing, we are out of tune. In the sestet Wordsworth gives his solution to the problem of humans being out of touch with nature by calling upon the pre-Christian ideals of Paganism. In line eight, the first line of the sestet, Wordsworth also switches the speaker from third person to a firstperson narrator. In doing this he sets himself apart society. He states, Id rather be/ A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn. He is saying that he would rather be willfully ignorant of the outmoded Pagan ideals because that way of life is more comforting. He uses the word suckled metaphorically to allude to his idea of what the balance of nature should be. Nature is the mother and humans are the infant. He wants to adopt this outlook so that he can look at nature and see only the grandeur and greatness of it. In the first two quatrains of the sonnet, Wordsworth uses a speaker that seems to be addressing an audience. The audience the speaker addresses is the entire population of the world. The speaker uses third person. This is a rhetorical device used to persuade the

audience. The speaker gives a dismal and dark assessment of human nature and its wanton consumerism. In the sestet the speaker switches to first person to set himself apart from society. In the sestet, the tone of the speaker gives a more idealized and romantic vision of the world. The irony is that this vision of the world is far away from reality he described in the octave. The poem is written in the format of an Italian sonnet and as with many Italian sonnets it is written in Iambic pentameter. He uses gerund repetition in the second line. This creates monotony. This is useful because Wordsworth wishes to portray the getting and spending of consumerism as monotonous. Throughout the poem Wordsworth uses heavy assonance with the long vowel sound oworld, soon, sordid, boon, bosom, moon, howling, hour, blow, etc. This helps unify the disparate tones of the octave and the sestet. It also slows the sonnet down. The o sound gives it a lethargic feeling. This helps add to the idea of consumerism as cyclical and without end. This sonnet can be called a romantic poem simply by its author and date. But more than that, its subject matter makes it truly a romantic poem. This sonnet was written during the middle of the Industrial Revolution and Wordsworth like other romantic poets became increasingly concerned with the impact of industrialization on the environment around this time. Also, Wordsworth adopts a romantic ideal of nature in the sestet. He uses Paganism to personify God through nature.