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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE WORLD; SONNET by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US: LATE AND SOON
Last Line: OR HEAR OLD TRITON BLOW HIS WREATHED HORN.
Subject(s): ALIENATION (SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY); MELANCHOLY; MEN; NATURE; PAGANISM & PAGANS; SOCIAL PROTEST; ESTRANGEMENT; OUTCASTS; DEJECTION;

THE World is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. -- Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.



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