19 pages • 38 minutes read
William WordsworthThe World Is Too Much with Us
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1807A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
"The Tables Turned" by William Wordsworth (1798)
Like “The World Is Too Much With Us,” Wordsworth’s prior poem “The Tables Turned” depicts interacting with nature as a spiritual experience, one in which the attentive follower may receive education and moral guidance from the “teacher” (Line 16) and “preacher” (Line 14) of nature. The poem disregards traditional learning from books in favor of a more active and experiential observation of nature firsthand.
"Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth (1798)
“Lines Written in Early Spring” is another early Wordsworth poem concerned with the current state of humanity, and Wordsworth expresses these concerns from a “grove” where he sits “reclined” (Line 2). Although he feels a “thrill of pleasure” (Line 16) from meditating in nature and watching birds play around him, he cannot help also feeling “grieved” (Line 7) at the thought of “what man has made of man” (Line 8).
"The Garden of Love" by William Blake (1794)
In this highly metaphorical poem, William Blake takes Wordsworth’s tentative complaints with Christian society in “The World Is Too Much With Us” much further. The speaker laments the loss of a primitive garden of love, filled with “sweet flowers” (Line 8), memories of childhood play, and “desires” (Line 12), when he encounters a chapel and “binding” (Line 12) briars built over the garden. The chapel and briars symbolize the moral restrictions that Blake and many of his fellow Romantics perceived as a product of stifling, man-made religion.
Further Literary Resources
"Getting and Spending: Nostalgia for the Old Way of Reading Poetry" by Phyllis Rose (2001)
In this article, literary critic, essayist, and biographer Phyllis Rose offers insight into the form and structure of “The World Is Too Much With Us” and argues the simplicity of the verse reflects the purity and simplicity of Wordsworth’s ideal world. The article also analyzes the poem’s peculiar word choice and pronoun use.
"Wordsworth and Solitude" by Morris Dickstein (1987)
In his article for The Sewanee Review, literary scholar, historian, essayist, and book critic Morris Dickstein examines the enduring emotional impact of Wordsworth’s poetry. Dickstein also provides context for how Wordsworth’s focus on the self in solitude and his depiction of personal emotion would both influence and oppose later Romantic writers like Lord Byron.
"Wordsworth and the Language of Nature" by Will Christie (1983)
Written by Professor Will Christie, “Wordsworth and the Language of Nature” contextualizes the language Wordsworth uses in his poetry with popular philosophical movements of the poet’s time. The article argues that Wordsworth’s poetic language is a deliberate rejection of the “decadent” and “urban” language typically associated with poetry and that Wordsworth’s poetry attempts to create a purer language that reflects the purity of nature itself.
Listen to Poem
British actor, comedian, broadcaster, and writer Stephen Fry offers a reading of “The World Is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth.
Related Titles
By William Wordsworth
