Blog 2 – “The World Is Too Much with Us”

William Wordsworth composed the sonnet “The World Is Too Much with Us” in the early 1800’s, however it’s message still rings loud and true in today’s world. A common theme through much of Wordsworth’s work was the power he believed nature held and how, if people gave it their complete attention, nature could teach so much. “The World Is Too Much with Us” pushes this message again, and angrily begs for a different world that is more engrossed with nature.

William Wordsworth was notorious for being consistently vocal about the power of the natural world, and the material world can blur this. The line “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers/little we see in nature that is ours” (2-3) shows the control and value people give to material items and money, instead of looking to nature for the wealth of knowledge and experiences it can give. This line is still powerfully true in our 21^st century world, as people have become so object-orientated and give much more value to commodities and goods, instead of the beautiful nature that surrounds us every day for free.

For the most part, all people care about nowadays is the latest and greatest of whatever they can find, whether it be technology, shoes, or even furniture. People look less to nature for joy and look to superficial things, such as the number of likes on a photo or spending money, to feel fulfilled instead. This is so damaging to our society as we begin to decrease our time spent with the Earth and lose our touch with nature, that can be so rewarding in return. As we give more into the materialistic world, we take away from the natural as well, whether it be in time spent with the land or in the resources it gives us. We take and take, and there is no give back. We must give back and see how important nature is, and see all we can learn from it, before it becomes too late and there’s nothing left to take. We cannot create a new Earth out of shoes and mobile phones.