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English–I

Notes To wish to be a pagan in 1807 – when the poem was published – would be like saying, “I wish
I could wear clothes or do things that were in fashion a thousand years ago.”
Wait a second, he’d rather be a pagan than what? Than someone who isn’t moved by nature?
Seems like it.
“Suckled” just means “nursed at a breast” or “nourished.”

Lines 11-12
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
The speaker explains why he would rather be a pagan. If he were, then he could look at the
land in front of him and see something that wouldn’t make him feel so lonely and sad (“forlorn”).

A “lea” is a meadow or open-grassland. Wait a second, wasn’t the speaker just telling us about
“this sea”? How did we get to the meadow? Maybe he’s standing in a meadow overlooking
the sea.
The speaker wants “glimpses” of something, but we don’t know what; he suggests that if he
were a pagan he would only see things in snatches, for a brief moment, in the blink of an eye.
And this isn’t even guaranteed; he says he “might” have “glimpses.”

Lines 13-14

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
The speaker elaborates on those potential “glimpses.” He says he might see Proteus coming
out of the ocean or Triton blowing his horn.
Proteus is a sea god in Greek mythology. He had the ability to prophesy the future, but didn’t
like doing it. If someone grabbed a hold of him and tried to make him predict the future, he
would change his shape and try to get away. The modern word “protean”—meaning variable
or changing a lot—comes from his name.
Triton was a son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. He had a conch shell that he blew into
in order to excite or calm the waves.
“Wreathed” means something like twisted, sinewy, having coils; the “wreathed horn” is a
reference to Triton’s conch shell.

Task What is theme of “The World is to much with us”.

16.2 Question and Answer

The world is too much with us; late and soon. Explain the poet’s view
The words “late and soon” in the opening verse describe how the past and future are included
in his characterization of mankind. The author knows the potential of humanity’s “powers,”
but fears it is clouded by the mentality of “getting and spending.” The “sordid boon” we have
“given our hearts” is the materialistic progress of mankind. The detriment society has on the

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