The world is too much with us - William Wordsworth - Notes

The world is too much with us

William Wordsworth

Introduction:-

Angrily, the speaker accuses the modern age of having lost its connection to nature and to everything meaningful: “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: / Little we see in Nature that is ours; / We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” He says that even when the sea “bares her bosom to the moon” and the winds howl, humanity is still out of tune, and looks on uncaringly at the spectacle of the storm. The speaker wishes that he were a pagan raised according to a different vision of the world, so that, “standing on this pleasant lea,” he might see images of ancient gods rising from the waves, a sight that would cheer him greatly. He imagines “Proteus rising from the sea,” and Triton “blowing his wreathed horn.”

Form

This poem is one of the many excellent sonnets Wordsworth wrote in the early 1800s. Sonnets are fourteen-line poetic inventions written in iambic pentameter. There are several varieties of sonnets; “The world is too much with us” takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, modeled after the work of Petrarch, an Italian poet of the early Renaissance. A Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two parts, an octave (the first eight lines of the poem) and a sestet (the final six lines). The rhyme scheme of a Petrarchan sonnet is somewhat variable; in this case, the octave follows a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA, and the sestet follows a rhyme scheme of CDCDCD. In most Petrarchan sonnets, the octave proposes a question or an idea that the sestet answers, comments upon, or criticizes.

Commentary

“The world is too much with us” falls in line with a number of sonnets written by Wordsworth in the early 1800s that criticize or admonish what Wordsworth saw as the decadent material cynicism of the time. This relatively simple poem angrily states that human beings are too preoccupied with the material (“The world...getting and spending”) and have lost touch with the spiritual and with nature. In the sestet, the speaker dramatically proposes an impossible personal solution to his problem—he wishes he could have been raised as a pagan, so he could still see ancient gods in the actions of nature and thereby gain spiritual solace. His thunderous “Great God!” indicates the extremity of his wish—in Christian England, one did not often wish to be a pagan.
On the whole, this sonnet offers an angry summation of the familiar Wordsworthian theme of communion with nature, and states precisely how far the early nineteenth century was from living out the Wordsworthian ideal. The sonnet is important for its rhetorical force (it shows Wordsworth’s increasing confidence with language as an implement of dramatic power, sweeping the wind and the sea up like flowers in a bouquet), and for being representative of other poems in the Wordsworth canon—notably “London, 1802,” in which the speaker dreams of bringing back the dead poet John Milton to save his decadent era.

Theme

In the early 19th century, Wordsworth wrote several sonnets blasting what he perceived as "the decadent material cynicism of the time. "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. 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.


Metaphor
The metaphor “we have given our hearts away, a sordid boon” is also an oxymoron. Sordid suggests the worst aspects of human nature such as immorality, selfishness and greed, while a boon is something that functions as a blessing or benefit.
The contradiction between the meanings of the words suggests that materialism is a destructive and corrupt blessing which the industrial revolution has produced. It emphasises the tension between the good exterior and the sordid truth behind materialism. On an exterior level, material goods bring pleasure and are a symbol of man’s progress; however, in truth, they feed the worst aspects of humanity: thus a "sordid boon."
Sonnet form
Wordsworth employs a strictly structured form, the Italian sonnet, which conforms to a set of strict conventions. As in many sonnets by the Romantic poets, he creates a tension between the emotional, natural, and fluid themes explored in the poem and the structured form of the sonnet. This tension reflects what was occurring during the Romantic Era, in which artists and poets were rebelling in the structured world of the neoclassical period.
Employing the familiar with the new and revolutionary-Wordsworth uses the familiar structure of the sonnet as well as referring to familiar ancient Gods (in the authors context they would have been familiar) to persuade the reader to engage in a positive way to the concepts addressed. The unfamiliar or unknown is always feared and suppressed thus by incorporating the familiar with the revolutionary the reader in the 19th century is more likely to engage positively with Wordsworth’s message.
Repetition and rhyming scheme
The repetitive rhyme scheme ABBAABBA, and the use of word pairs such as “getting and spending” and “late and soon” emphasises the monotonous nature of modern life and materialism. Getting and spending is a cluster of longer emphasised words with many consonants, also possibly emphasising this view.
In essence, materialism is just that getting and spending: it is devoid of emotion or a true fulfilling purpose. In many ways the stereotypes of man and woman mirror the difference between the neoclassical and romantic period between civilised and nature. Men in this context are associated with rationality, strength, order and power, whereas women are associated with emotion and the imagination.
Music and harmony
The line, "For this, for everything we are out of tune" implies that man is out of tune with nature, unable to live in harmony with the world around him. By describing the harmonious relationship of man and nature as a tune, Wordsworth evokes a sensuous experience of nature.
Collective pronouns
Wordsworth uses the words "we" and "us." This includes the reader, once again positioning the reader to engage with the poem.
Imagery
In the simile "and are up gathered now like sleeping flowers," sleeping flowers suggest that man is numb and unaware of the beauty and power of the natural world. At the same time, however, there is also a certain optimism: the image of sleeping flowers implies that humans are only dormant, and that there is some hope we will wake up and realise the power of nature.
Punctuation
The poem's many commas and semicolons create pauses that instill reflection in the reader. In each pause the reader is given space to contemplate and engage with the message.

The New Alexandrians - Notes

The New Alexandrians

‘The New Alexandrians ‘, a chapter taken from the book Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything written by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams depict the dissemination of knowledge through YouTube, Wikipedia and other internet facilities.

The authors bring the history of ancient Alexandrian library which stored half million volumes of books in one building, they also talk about the unfortunate end of it and how it paved the way for the emergence of new technologies to restore the lost books in digital forms.

Authors claim that arrival of mass media changed the perceptions of people and it helped them to revive and reconstruct their knowledge. Authors describe that the New Alexandrians associates mass collaboration through the internet to disseminate human faculties and information. The last four hundred years of scientific enquiry enabled humans to think in advance and also accelerated the growth of them in various fields.

Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams believe that mass collaboration in business and other fields enable the companies to develop well. The human Genome project, and other websites, offering insight to business on using open source strategies to expand research and marketing success.

The authors claim that sharing stories and information can build strong amity between multinational companies, more over it can make a sea change in the growth of every organization. They propose cooperation than conflict through new inventions and innovations. Exchange, collaboration and dissemination of information and sharing of technologies among talented individuals and corporations can lead to a genuine explosion of knowledge.

The Enlightenment of the seventeenth century led scientists, philosophers, mechanics and intellectuals entering into dynamic debates and exchange of ideas. Establishment of modern technologies accelerated the efforts tospread knowledge and information kindled by the enlightened thinkers. According to the Authors theestablishment of shared foundation of knowledge according to the New Alexandrians is the way to ensure innovation and success in the corporate world.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers - Langston Hughe - Notes

 “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

Langston Hughes:

Summary:

The speaker claims that he has known rivers as “ancient as the world,” older than the blood that flows in our veins. His soul has grown deep, just like the rivers. He writes about bathing in the Euphrates at the beginning of civilization, and later, he built a hut along the Congo and listened to the river as he fell asleep. He looked at the Nile and watched the pyramids rise nearby; he heard the muddy Mississippi sing when Abraham Lincoln traveled to New Orleans. He repeats that he has known “ancient, dusky rivers,” and his soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Analysis:

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is Langston Hughes’s first mature poem. He wrote it in 1920 at the age of seventeen, while traveling by train to visit his father in Mexico. The young Hughes was inspired to pen this verse when his train crossed over the Mississippi River. It was published in 1921 in the journal the Crisis, which had a predominantly African American readership. Although Hughes did not technically write "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" in or about Harlem, he addresses themes that would later become closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes dedicated this poem to W.E.B. DuBois a few years after its initial publication. It was also read out loud at Hughes's own funeral service in 1967.
When Langston Hughes was writing "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," he was most influenced by the work of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman. He particularly cited Whitman's “Song of Myself” as an inspiration for the longer lines in “Negro.” The poem is free verse but has the rhythm of a gospel preacher. Hughes utilizes anaphora, which is the repetition of words or phrases at the start of each line, like “I built,” “I looked,” and “I heard.”
In this poem, the speaker links himself to his ancestors, firmly placing them in important historical, religious, and cultural sites all over the world. The speaker begins by claiming a connection to the world's ancient rivers that predated human beings, and that has made his soul grow "deep like the rivers." This insightful and articulate description indicates the speaker's immense intellect, and allows him to make a definitive connection between people of his race and the rest of human civilization. In the early 20th Century, white Americans often viewed their darker-skinned counterparts as less than human, and here, Hughes offers concrete proof of historical equality.
The speaker mentions four great rivers, starting with the Euphrates, which historians and archaeologists often label as the birthplace of human civilization. Then, he mentions the strong and mighty Congo, along which many great African kingdoms have flourished. The speaker then cites the long, winding Nile and the great Egyptian pyramids. He witnessed the creation of these structures, which are amongst man's greatest feats of architecture. Finally, he writes about the muddy and golden Mississippi, which he links American slavery and Abraham Lincoln. Although the speaker shares many of Langston Hughes's beliefs, he is a universal figure rather than an autobiographical depiction of Hughes himself. The speaker serves as a voice for all African Americans, as he traces their lineage to the cradles of civilization.

Onwuchekwa Jemie extols the merits of the poem:

It is a sonorous evocation of transcendent essences so ancient as to appear timeless, predating human existence, longer than human memory. The rivers are part of God's body, and participate in his immortality. They are the earthly analogues of eternity: deep, continuous, mysterious. They are named in the order of their association with black history. The black man has drunk of their life-giving essences, and thereby borrowed their immortality.

Death is one of the main themes in the poem, although it is subtle. Critic Arnold Rampersad writes:

With its allusions to deep dusky rivers, the setting sun, sleep, and the soul, [the poem] is suffused with the image of death and, simultaneously, the idea of deathlessness. As in Whitman's philosophy, only the knowledge of death can bring the primal spark of poetry and life. Here Langston Hughes became ‘the outsetting bard,’ in Whitman's phrase, the poet who sings of life because at last he has known death.

“The Freedom of Heaven” - Rabindranath Tagore - Notes

 “The Freedom of Heaven” - Rabindranath Tagore

                Rabindranath Tagore is respected as the International Indian Literary Hero. M.K. Naik writes him as ‘an inheritor of all times and all cultures. He was a winner of the Nobel Prize in 1913 for ‘Gitanjali’. Tagore’s fecundity and vitality as a poet are truly amazing. He is a very unequally poet. M.K. Naik remarks in his book “Indian writing in English Literature”. 

“At his best, Tagore remains a

poet with a delicate sensibility

deeply Indian in spirit.

                ‘Freedom of Heaven’ presents Tagore’s patriotic feeling. He pleads the God to lead his country into an ideal state. The poem also defines the real and proper meaning of freedom. It a concept of Tagore’s ‘Utopia’ in compare to ‘Gitanjali’, which expresses the thought that the heaven in but our own world. Through the poem, Tagore deals with the norms and dogmas which are very necessary to get heavenly freedom.

Title of the poem

                The title is always an important part of literary creation because it shows theme of poem. The title ‘freedom of Heaven’ is an apt and suggestive. Here a poet doesn’t mean freedom to roam anywhere or to do whatever but free and open expression of one’s soul. The poet’s concept is philosophical which shows creation of freedom rather than enjoyment of freedom. 

Theme of the poem

                Through the poem, Tagore deals with real meaning of freedom and true values of Heaven. He talks on heavenly freedom. Heaven is possible anywhere even also on the Earth. Freedom of thoughts, ideas, mind, rules, and dogmas transfer earth into heaven.  In such freedom earth would able to shift into heaven. This heaven is compared with a ‘Utopian State’ where is no suffering and no sin. We can create such heaven through deeds, ambitious and aspirations. The real heaven is nothing but created by men. Shakespeare said.

“There is nothing good or

bad but thinking makes it so.”

               

Critical Summary of the poem

                Tagore describes some virtual and ideal condition by which we can obtain the freedom. First Tagore talks on the importance of fearless mind, self-confidence and free knowledge. In first three lines, Tagore says,

“Where the mind is without fear

And the head is held high.

Where knowledge is free;”

The mind of men should not have any fear but brave and courageous to sustain and maintain the truth. The High gold is equally important in life to achieve the freedom. Being a pioneer of Education in India, Tagore believes in the Education which must be free and not bound in any narrow bookish system of examination only. Then Tagore talks about the unity of nation.  Narrow domestic walls separate men from men. To remove them, free and frank communication with every people is very necessary. Another other importance matter is that freedom is based on the truth. He says about the truth in following manner.

The words come out from

the depth of truth.

                Here Tagore includes Gandhian philosophy of truth. In ‘My Experiment of with Truth’, Gandhiji has fully accepted the value of truth. For Gandhiji, Realization of the Truth is the purpose of human life. The poet was very influenced and impressed by Gandhi and presents the value of truth. To get the freedom, the poet believes in perfection. It comes after hard and continuous efforts. We shouldn’t think of tiredness. ‘Tireless striving’ is only the way.

“Where tireless striving

stretches its arm towards

perfection.”

                There is no heaven and no hell, if man can try. There is unique thought and action, and don’t see anything with narrow sense. Our wayward thinking and haphazard doing lead only to ‘dreary desert’. The clear stream of reason should not be gone into desert sand and of dead habit. Here the poet wants to tell something what is the view of Nehru about thought and action.

‘Thought without action is abortion, and action without thought is folly’.

                At the last, the poet pleads let these things come in order to awake his country and shows nationalism and patriotic feeling in the end of poem.

“My father, Let my county awake.”

Poetic Quality

                As far as poetic quality is concerned, the poem is in free verse, there is no division of stanza, regular rhyme schemes, or rhythm.

                We find characteristics like simplicity, lucidity and directness in the poem. We can find lucid and musical note. We can nice use of alliteration.

Where the mind is without fear 2.  And the head is held high.

                Poet uses the word ‘where’ for 11 times in the poem. It indicates some particular place where all those things are happening. In last two lines, poet uses the word ‘My Father’ indicates that actually poet is praying to God for wel-fare of his country and his country men.

                Even the poem end with ‘Exclamation’ that suggests the sense of surprise and wonder. Tagore wants to bring wonderful surprise means through freedom the possibility of heaven over earth.

Conclusion

                 To summing up, ‘Freedom of heaven’ is very thoughtful poem which presents idea that the heaven is nowhere; heaven is there only on earth. Tagore stresses on fearlessness, free knowledge, no domestic struggle, truth, perfection. The poem may remind the Gandhian philosophy of ‘Truth’ and the philosophy of ‘thoughts and action’ of Jawaharlal Nehru. Tagore’s views can be compared with slogan of French revolution ‘Equality, liberty and Brotherhood’. The poem can also be compared with ‘Earthy Paradise’ by Mulk Raj Anand.

                In this way, Tagore was a great nationalist and mighty internationalist. His poetry is born out of an amalgam of the rich classical heritage of ancient India.  In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru

As a Great Sage of Indian,

Tagore gave India’s own

message in a new language

in keeping with ‘Yugadharma’,

the spirit of the time’