ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

LITERATURE QUESTIONS

EARLY BRITISH LITERATURE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
In“The World is too Much with Us, “ the speaker wishes to be
A
Able to earn and spend a lot of money
B
Closer to the beauties of the natural world
C
As strong a powerful as an ancient Greek god
D
None of the above
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -It has encompassed humanity, who is too busy “getting and spending”. He mourns that humanity has such wonderful powers that are being laid waste. The mankind has given her heart away to this destructive blessing, the poet calls it a “sordid boon”, an oxymoron.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lamenting the poet declares how the humanity is “out of tune” with it all and wishes to become a Pagan so he might get glimpses of the beauty of nature.

Detailed explanation-3: -"The World Is Too Much with Us” is a sonnet by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In it, Wordsworth criticises the world of the First Industrial Revolution for being absorbed in materialism and distancing itself from nature.

Detailed explanation-4: -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.”

Detailed explanation-5: -In these lines, the speaker contrasts Nature with “The World”. He reveals that while people spend their time in acquiring worldly possessions, the true beauty of the earth cannot be owned. He reveals that very few things that people see in Nature actually belong to them.

There is 1 question to complete.