The World Is Too Much With Us

5 Pages 1163 Words

The Essence of Man
In William Wordsworth’s sonnet "The World Is Too Much with Us," the author’s techniques enhance a feeling of not only hopeless despondency, but also forlorn dejection. Wordsworth presents first humankind's existing botched relationship to nature and quickly follows with his nostalgic idealization of our past rapport with it, the latter section being more immediate and personal. Wordsworth desperately longs for humanity to return to its once flourishing relationship with nature, ultimately becoming more true to our own quintessence.
Wordsworth’s diction enhances a feeling of melancholy. For example, the author recognizes the vast potential for humankind, but the all too common mentality of “getting and spending” clouds the once perceptive outlook of humanity. The appetite the world has for devouring all that is around blinds all as to what is being sacrificed for the progress. Wordsworth’s powerful word choice reinforces the fact that mankind is jaded by materialism, thus destroying nature instead of embracing it. Wordsworth sees himself as having insight to the problems that exist between humanity and nature, warning that the materialistic progress being made by man is not without consequence. The destruction of the environment by mankind’s shortsightedness will continue as Wordsworth has foreseen. Wordsworth expresses to us that we are filthy animals and have betrayed nature; we have taken our love away from it and given it to getting and spending. He feels that as a result of urbanization the beauty of nature that once many people possessed and saw everyday in their lives is now lost and in its place people find joy in getting and spending. Wordsworth’s argument is that, when these elements are considered, it can be seen that the beauty of the universe has a moral, that is, as we are more focused on materialism rather than our religious beliefs, we are becoming heathens, thus we must learn to ap...