This poem dramatizes the conflict between material possessions and nature, particularly man’s desire to pursue material wealth and in the course of this pursuit the losing of touch with nature, as man becomes consumed with this pursuit. The speaker is speaking from a grassland or meadow as he refers to “standing on this pleasant lea” (line 11) overlooking the ocean. It’s a calm evening, with the moon shining above as the speaker refers to “This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be howling at all hours And are up-gather’d now like sleeping flowers.” (5-7) The speaker explains that despite the beauty in front of him, the hearts of mankind are not moved by it that mankind is too wrapped up in earning and buying material things a “sordid boon”. (4) In the end, the speaker longs for a time when mankind was more in tune with nature, even if it meant that he would have to revert back to being “A pagan suckled in a creed outworn.” (10) Then, he feels he could truly appreciate the wonder of nature before him. And return to the timelessness the reference to Proteus, in line 13 represents as “the everlasting changes united with the ever-recurrent sameness of the sea.” (“Notes”)
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Filename: 20326 Explication William Wordsworth.doc
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