William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth's “The World is Too Much With Us” is a Romantic Sonnet that can be broken into two parts. The speaker tells us in the first part that we have lost our connection with nature, and that that connection was one of our most important relationships. The speaker the goes on to tell us that that he is willing to sacrifice everything to recover this relationship, and begins on line 9. In romantic poems, the speaker tries to convince us of our flaws, in this case our skewed relationship with nature, and convince us to change our ways. The speaker in Wordsworth's poem is no different in this respect, and utilizes shock to grab our attention and really get us to notice just how serious he believes this problem is. Although he uses multiple types of shock in this poem, his willingness to reject the major religions of the day is clearly his most affective.

Wordsworth was one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in poetry, and his works became an outline for what Romanticism was all about. This movement was one that was trying to change society, and bring them back in touch with their feelings and nature. The Columbia Encyclopedia went as far as calling it, “revolt against the prescribed rules of classicism.” This means that the romantic thinkers and poets were trying to convince their audience that their old ways were wrong because they neglected what was truly important, and get them to change their ways. As Rader put it, “In the richness of its values and range of its ideas this is a large poem, although it numbers only fourteen lines. It is what Matthew Arnold called 'a criticism of life'” (Rader 203). This means that “The World is Too Much With Us” is a very deep poem, criticizing the situation in which the speaker lives, and clearly trying to evoke a response. In order to do this, however, they first had to get them to pay attention to their arguments. This is one place that shock was found to be an important tool.

There are two main uses for shock in poetry, to get the audiences attention or to support your point. Wordsworth uses shock to get the readers attention three different times in “The World is Too Much With Us”. The first way he utilizes shock is by going against the normal use of nature in Romantic poetry. In most Romantic poems, nature is portrayed in a gentle light. Usua...

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...ock value worked for him was his popularity. The fact that every religion saw him as one of their own gave legitimacy to his opinions. As Stephen Gill put it, “Quakers thought him a Quaker. Anglo-Catholics saw him as one of themselves” (Gill 40). This, I think, also added to the shock of him rejecting religion. It also, however, added to the seriousness with which they took him. Most people would not listen to a person who didn't share their religious or spiritual beliefs when they are talking about religious matters. The fact that he is one of them makes people both want to listen to what he is telling them and to examine their own consciences more seriously than they would any one outside of their beliefs.

Results really are the best way to tell whether a particular method being used is good or not. Wordsworth was definitely able to achieve great results despite his controversial message. It was because he was able to make people see his side that he became the spiritual leader that he did, and is now recognized as the founder of a poetic movement, and a literary visionary. Shock may not have been the method of persuasion he used most, but I feel that it was his most affective.