CLASS 11 · WOVEN WORDS · CHAPTER 13
The World is too Much With Us
Original, student-friendly answers to William Wordsworth's poem activities.
2 worked answersOriginal sample responses
2 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Understanding the Poem
Textbook pages Understanding the Poem
Question Understanding the Poem 1
What does the poet mean by saying that the world takes too much of our attention, and how has this affected our relationship with nature?
Connect material concerns with the loss of emotional contact with nature.
Answer
People focus on money and possessions, so they lose a spiritual and emotional connection with nature.
Question Understanding the Poem 2
Why does the speaker imagine himself as a pagan and refer to Proteus and Triton?
Explain that the mythic figures help the speaker imagine nature as alive and sacred.
Answer
Proteus and Triton let him imagine the sea as a living divine world, restoring wonder he feels modern life has lost.