Wordsworth and Thomas

In “The World Is Too Much with Us,” William Wordsworth describes “us” as people whose culture has caused us to be out of touch with nature. Wordsworth sees a community of people blinded by “getting and spending,” and neglectful of our surroundings. Wordsworth develops dissonance between people and nature through diction. Describing the Sea as “her” makes nature seem tame and elegant. Likewise, the howling wind that is gathered up like “sleeping flowers” appears to be peaceful and gentle. In contrast, Wordsworth describes us as people who “lay waste our powers,” and give “our hearts away.” Wordsworth’s choice of “waste” and “give” emphasizes our culture’s materialism that leads us to be “out of tune” with nature. By the end of the poem, the speaker blatantly states that he/she would “rather be/ A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn,” so that he/she might see more of nature and less of society that makes the speaker sad. The speaker of the poem seems to identify as one in tune with nature.

The speaker of Dylan Thomas’ poem “Fern Hill” is also very much in tune with nature. It’s interesting to read these two poems side by side because the first (Wordsworth’s poem) strongly criticizes society’s materialism while the second (Thomas’ poem) portrays a life in unison with the environment. The second poem is refreshing and carefree; it captures the color in life. The speaker in “Fern Hill” is not at all concerned with materialistic things, but rather it seems the speaker is very concerned with time. The poem begins with “I was young and easy,” and we see repetition of this line in the last stanza as the speaker reflects on childhood. The speaker also describes a “sun that is young once only,” a “moon that is always rising,” and time that held him/her “green and dying.” The incessant movement of life with nature highlights what we should truly be concerned with: our time.