The World Is Too Much with Us (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William Wordsworth
- First Published: 1807
- Type of Work: Sonnet
- Genres: Poetry, Sonnet
- Subjects: Tradition, Mythology or myths, Power, personal or social, Nature, Music or musicians, Human race, Singing or singers, Human behavior, Sea or seafaring life, Wind
The Poem
In “The World Is Too Much with Us,” William Wordsworth offers his reader a sonnet, albeit an idiosyncratic one that deliberately ignores or adapts the traditional sonnet conventions to convey its theme. The sonnet is typically a poem composed of fourteen lines that features two “movements”: an octave, or opening set of eight lines, that presents a dilemma or conflict, the resolution to which is offered in the closing sestet, or set of six lines. Besides this structural convention, the traditional Italian sonnet, which is the basic form the poet builds upon,...
[The entire page is 1523 words long]
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