The World Is Too Much with Us

"The Tables Turned" by William Wordsworth (1798)

Like “The World Is Too Much With Us,” Wordsworth’s prior poem “The Tables Turned” depicts interacting with nature as a spiritual experience, one in which the attentive follower may receive education and moral guidance from the “teacher” (Line 16) and “preacher” (Line 14) of nature. The poem disregards traditional learning from books in favor of a more active and experiential observation of nature firsthand.

"Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth (1798)

“Lines Written in Early Spring” is another early Wordsworth poem concerned with the current state of humanity, and Wordsworth expresses these concerns from a “grove” where he sits “reclined” (Line 2). Although he feels a “thrill of pleasure” (Line 16) from meditating in nature and watching birds play around him, he cannot help also feeling “grieved” (Line 7) at the thought of “what man has made of man” (Line 8).

"The Garden of Love" by William Blake (1794)

In this highly metaphorical poem, William Blake takes Wordsworth’s tentative complaints with Christian society in “The World Is Too Much With Us” much further. The speaker laments the loss of a primitive garden of love, filled with “sweet flowers” (Line 8), memories of childhood play, and “desires” (Line 12), when he encounters a chapel and “binding” (Line 12) briars built over the garden.