The World Is
Too Much with Us: Long Answer-type Questions
Answer the
following questions in about 150 words each
Q1. What
does the poet think about the way a man treats nature? How does he express his
thoughts and feelings on this topic in the poem?
Or Summary of the poem ‘The World Is Too Much
with Us'
Ans. The poet thinks that we have made
ourselves detached (cut off/separated) from Nature. We are every time busy in
earning and spending money. We have no communion with Nature. He means to say
that God has created Nature for all the creatures on the earth. So Nature
belongs to us and we also belong to Nature. We cannot afford separation from
it. If it happens, harmful effects on the earth can be felt or seen. We have given
our hearts to material things. It means we have started loving them. He
expresses his deep concern over people’s growing love for worldly things. Man
has become a slave to the god of money, Mammon. All the diseases and mental
discomforts are due to our love for material things. As a great worshipper of
Nature, the poet appeals to all of us to give up Mammon-worship and start
loving Nature.
To prove his love for nature, the
poet declares that the Pagans in ancient times lived a healthier life. It
is because they were always connected to nature. They were nourished in the lap
of nature. So, all qualities of head and heart, like patience, love, peace,
hard work, etc. automatically got imbibed into their personality. This is the
reason why the poet wishes to become a pagan and have glimpses of gods of
nature.
Q2.The
sonnet is a criticism of life in this modern mechanized milieu. Comment on the
assessment of this fine.
Ans. The sonnet is really a criticism of life because
William Wordsworth makes a strong case of criticism against life the people had
started living in the nineteenth century under the effect of industrialization
and scientific progress. The case is still applicable in this modern mechanized
world of today also. We don’t have any time to ‘stand and stare’ at a beautiful
object of nature. The love for material things has made us blind to natural
beauty.
We have made ourselves detached (cut off/separated)
from Nature. We are every time busy in earning and spending money. We have no
communion with Nature. He means to say that God has created Nature for all the
creatures on the earth. So Nature belongs to us and we also belong to Nature.
We cannot afford separation from it. If it happens, harmful effects on the
earth can be felt or seen.
Man has become slave to the god of
money, Mammon. All the diseases and mental discomforts are due to our love for
material things. As a great worshipper of Nature, the poet appeals to all of us
to give up Mammon-worship and start loving Nature.
To prove his love for nature, the
poet declares that the Pagans in ancient times lived a healthier life. It
is because they were always connected to nature. They were nourished in the lap
of nature. So, all qualities of head and heart, like patience, love, peace, hard
work, etc. automatically got imbibed into their personality. This is the reason
why the poet wishes to become a pagan and have glimpses of gods of nature.
Q3.How does
Wordsworth employ Greek mythology and other devices to portray the
materialistic mind of modern man?
Ans. After reading and understanding the poem, we all
come to know how William Wordsworth feels hurt to see his fellow Christians getting
too much attached to materialism. They have started wasting much of their time
and energy in earning and spending money. In this way, money has become a curse
for them. It is the root cause of all of their ailments.
To depict the materialistic mind of the modern man,
the poet uses Greek mythology. He tells us how in ancient times the Greeks used
to believe in Pagan gods. They believed and loved every object in nature. They
used to have glimpses of Pagan gods like Proteus and Triton rising from the
sea. He uses beautiful imagery from Nature to make the readers feel and think
how nature blesses every human heart.
The
poet creates a very beautiful word picture using the personification of the sea and
the moon. The poet uses a straightforward image of the sea in female form
exposed to the view of the moon. The second image that emerges in the poet’s
mind is that of the winds huddled together like sleeping flowers. The poet uses
a simile of sleeping flowers for the winds that have now huddled up together as
if in the position of sleeping.
In the end, the poet declares that he would
prefer to be a Pagan rather than be affected by the growing materialism in the
world. He would be ready to renounce his religion ‘Christianity’ which advocates
for only one God. He would like to follow the religion in which Nature is
worshipped.
Q4. The poet
prefers paganism to worldliness. Discuss.
Ans. William Wordsworth’s love for Nature is known to
all of us. He wrote so many poems to show his great love for nature.
In this poem, his immense love for Nature makes him announce
that he would prefer to be a pagan rather than being a believer of a religion that
restricts (stops) him from loving gods of nature, like Proteus and Triton.
In ancient Greece and Rome, people believed in so many
gods and goddesses. So they were called Pagans. But in Christianity, only one God
is worshipped. Nature is also blessed with them in so many ways.
The poet further says that people of his times have become
slaves to materialism. They have stopped loving nature. They have detached themselves
from the beauties of nature.
The poet does not want to become too much lost
in materialism. The poet also declares that he would like to be a Pagan
than to continue following the outdated religion in which he was brought up. He
would not stop loving nature even if his religion forces him to do so.
