William Wordsworth, The world is too much with us - British Poetry - 500 AP English Literature Questions to know by test day

500 AP English Literature Questions to know by test day

CHAPTER 1. British Poetry

 

Passage 5. William Wordsworth, “The world is too much with us”

 

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 every thing, 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 coming from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.