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Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University Unit 16: The World is Too ...

Unit 16: The World is Too Much with Us Notes

by William Wordsworth

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
16.1 The World is too Much with Us
16.2 Question and Answer
16.3 Critical Appreciation of ‘The World is too Much with Us’
16.4 Summary

16.5 Keywords
16.6 Review Questions
16.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Describe the theme of ‘‘The world is too much with us’’
• Explain the poet’s view about the words “late and soon”
• Discuss critical appreciation of “The world is too much with us”.

Introduction

“The World Is Too Much with Us” is a sonnet by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth.
In it, Wordsworth criticizes the world of the First Industrial Revolution for being absorbed in
materialism and distancing itself from nature. Composed circa 1802, the poem was first published
in Poems, In Two Volumes (1807). Like most Italian sonnets, its 14 lines are written in iambic
pentameter.

16.1 The World is too Much with Us

In the early 19th century, Wordsworth wrote several sonnets blasting what he perceived as
“the decadent material cynicism of the time.” “The World Is Too Much with Us” is one of
those works. It reflects his philosophy that humanity must get in touch with nature in order
to progress spiritually.The rhyme scheme of this poem is abbaabbacdcdcd. This Italian sonnet
uses the last six lines (sestet) to answer the first eight lines (octave).

Notes Wordsworth gives a fatalistic view of the world, past and future. The words “late
and soon” in the opening verse describe how the past and future are included in his
characterization of mankind.

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