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READ THIS
The poet bemoans the fact that the modern industrial age has divorced us from nature. We lay
waste our powers, he says, in the busy but futile effort of making money. He, on the other
hand, would rather resort to ancient religious cults if they would re-unite him with the god of
nature.
NOTE ON THE POET
William Wordsworth was born in 1770 at Cockermouth in the heart of the Lake District. His
early childhood was therefore spent in one of England's great wild places, playing in the hills
around the lakes. This memory would be immortalised within his many poems.
His mother died when he was eight, and his father when he was 13. Although he was left
almost destitute, his uncles helped the family through the crisis.
Wordsworth himself would be sent to school at Hawkshead, a small market town where the
young boy would further his love of the countryside. What's more, the little country school
which he attended encouraged him to develop his poetic talent.
Upon leaving school, Wordsworth attended Cambridge University to study law but, although he
obtained his degree, the poet had little interest in legal matters. His heart was in the wild places
which became the centre for his poetry.
He was eventually able to settle in the country where he became close friends with the great
poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The two would collaborate for many years.
Wordsworth himself became a prolific writer of nature poems. Indeed, so great did his
reputation become that he was made Poet Laureate in 1843.
Wordsworth eventually died in 1850 at the age of 80.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"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!"
- What does the poet mean when he says, "The World is too much with
us"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is referring to the materialism which was growing in England as a result of the
industrial revolution. More and more people were moving into the rapidly expanding cities, and
were chasing after money and luxury. The role of the country, on the other hand, was rapidly
diminishing.
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- What does the poet mean when he says, "We lay waste our
powers"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet does not say exactly what he means, does he? And so it is left to our conjecture. Is
he referring to some innate powers that we have as creatures of nature, which we possess
when we allow ourselves to be one with the universe but which we lose when we seek after
wealth?
There is a definite pantheistic tendency with Wordsworth, i.e. he sees Nature itself as being a
goddess with her own powers. If so, it would seem logical to suppose that a person who is at
one with Nature also possesses the powers which the Nature goddess has.
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- Why does the poet use an upper-case N when he refers to
"Nature"? (4)
[Need help?]
If you have read the answers to the previous questions, you should be able to come to a
conclusion here. Either one can say that Wordsworth is personifying nature, or one can
go a step further and say that the poet actually perceives Nature as a goddess, with very
real powers of healing over the human spirit.
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"This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours
And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not."
- Comment on the imagery in the line, "This Sea that bares her bosom to the
moon". (4)
[Need help?]
Notice the upper-case S for "Sea". Wordsworth is definitely personifying the sea,
turning it into a woman who is lying with her naked breasts exposed for the moon to admire.
One could argue, of course, that the poet sees all of Nature as a goddess. The sea is therefore
a part of her -- which on this occasion bares her breasts to the moon, who is also a goddess.
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- What point is the poet making in these words? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet appears to equate a life that is in tune with Nature as being at one with the universe.
Modern people, by following industrialisation and wealth, are placing themselves at odds with
Nature, and are therefore out of tune with the universe. We have made a god of money instead
of recognising Nature as our true goddess. Our pecuniary god, however, will lead us astray
because he takes us away from Nature.
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"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 wreathéd horn."
- What does the poet mean when he says, "I'd rather be a pagan suckled in a creed
outworn"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet lived in a Christian world, one where pagan beliefs were apparently out of place. And
yet, the poet argues, this same Christian force has taken its followers into a world of
industrialisation and urbanisation, where the focus of attention has become the scramble for
wealth.
Wordsworth argues, therefore, that he would rather return to the so-called "outworn"
pagan creed if it could take him back into a world where Nature is allowed to control the human
spirit.
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- What is the purpose of the diaeresis in "wreathéd"? (4)
[Need help?]
The diaeresis is all to do with the number of syllables in a line.
A sonnet has ten syllables in every line. If, however, a word like "wreathed" is
pronounced as only one syllable (as it usually is), then one is confronted with a problem of
metre or beat: i.e. there would now be only nine syllables to the line instead of ten.
To overcome this, the poet insists that the word must be pronounced as two syllables, and to
do this he places the diaeresis over the "ed" to show us that each part of the word must be
pronounced: "wreath - ed".
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Wordsworth has been described as a nature poet.
- Would you agree that this is an apt description? (4)
[Need help?]
Without a doubt, surely! Every word of this sonnet is an attack on the growing influence of
industrialisation, urbanisation and the love of wealth. The poet longs for the return to a
fundamental love of nature. Nature is indeed at the centre of the poet's world.
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