Saturday, July 11, 2015

What is the meaning of the beginning phrase "The world is too much with us" in the poem "The World is Too Much with Us" by William Wordsworth?

"The world is too much with us" can be interpreted as meaning that people have become too concerned with worldly, material things and are now unconcerned with the natural world.


The renowned social psychologist and humanistic philosopher Erich Fromm wrote in 1955,



We live in a world of things, and our only connection with them is that we know how to manipulate or to consume them.



Fromm's words echo the meaning of the first line of Wordsworth, a Romantic poet who stressed the importance of emotion and connection to Nature. In fact, Romanticism meant a return to nature and an escape from the contamination of modern civilization. Like other Romantics, Wordsworth was concerned that people were becoming materialistic during his time. Industrialization was occurring, thus causing people to "give their hearts away." In this poem, then, since their only connection to life is through consumption of the "world of things," people have become "out of tune" with the beauty of the natural world that even the "Pagan suckled in a creed outworn" knew how to appreciate.

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