identify the central theme of the poem the world is too much with us
The World Is Too Much with Us In the early 19th century, Wordsworth wrote several sonnets blasting what he perceived as "the decadent material cynicism of the time."[1] "The World Is Too Much with Us" is one of those works. It reflects his view that humanity must get in touch with nature to progress spiritually.[1] The rhyme scheme of this poem is a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a, c-d-c-d, c-d. This Italian or Petrarchan sonnet uses the last six lines (sestet) to answer the first eight lines (octave). The first eight lines (octave) are the problem and the next six (sestet) is the solution.
Understanding Poetry Understanding Poetry, according to an article at the Modern American Poetry Web site, "codified many of the so-called New Critical ideas into a coherent approach to literary study. Their book, and its companion volume, Understanding Fiction (1943), revolutionized the teaching of literature in the universities and spawned a host of imitators who dominated English departments well into the 1960s."[2]