Industrialization Idea Of In The World Is Too Much With Us And The Sea View: Poem Analysis

Humanity has grown at an undeniably fast rate these past few decades, early visibility of industrialization occurring in the 18th century. Industrialization was encouraged during this time, with an increased population causing citizens to move into cramped cities and work in factories. The dominos soon toppled, eventually leading to pollution which crept over natural landscapes. Humanity’s priorities were set-or at least it would seem. Poets such as Charlotte Smith and William Wordsworth and other substantial figures/thinkers would show their disdain towards the new revolution humanity was entertaining, demolishing any previously thought ‘accomplishments’.

The Sea View by Charlotte Smith opens up in a tranquil environment of a Shepherd reclining peacefully and lusting over his surroundings. Smith masterfully describes a sunset through the Shepherd’s eyes. She is careful to emphasize the purity of the terrain and makes it seem God given to the Earth in the following lines:

The upland shepherd, as reclined he lies

On the soft turf that clothes the mountain brow,

Marks the bright sea-line mingling with the skies;

Or from his course celestial sinking low

The summer sun in purple radiance glow

Blaze on the western waters; the wide scene

Magnificent and tranquil seems to spread

Even over the rustic’s breast a joy serene, (1. 1-8)

Smith uses language such as ‘soft’, ‘bright’, ‘celestial’, ‘radiance’, magnificent and tranquil’, and ‘joy’ to help set in the feeling of joyful stillness. The reader can only assume that night will be just as peaceful, but once the sky gets dim enough, the scenery mutates into a monstrosity.

The landscape changes as fast as the darkness crawls across the land and from the sea and Smith compares the incoming night to the destructive and violent tendencies of human nature. There is an emphasis of war, which combines all the flaws of humanity into one snarling beast:

When, like dark plague-spots by the demons shed,

Charged deep with death, upon the waves far seen

Move the war-freighted ships; and fierce and red

Flash their destructive fires–The mangled dead

And dying victims then pollute the flood.

Ah! thus man spoils glorious works with blood! (1. 9-14)

There is a vibrant description of death, war-torn lands and machinery of destruction that comes from the edge of the world and suddenly takes hold of the once peaceful scenery. Her language changes vastly and Smith makes use of words such as “plague-spots’, ‘demons’, ‘deep with death’, ‘fierce’, destructive’, ‘polluted’, and so on in order to spread fear and disappointment into the reader. War is the one thing that can encapsulate all the tragedies of humanity from massive death tolls (both to humans and animals), to a rapid increase in industrialization, pollution, civil unrest and so forth. Humanity is able to cope with the disasters caused by their politically driven civil fights, but it leaves animal and plant life helpless. The original dynamic between nature and humanity, which used to live in harmony, as seen in the beginning of the poem, is now drastically shifted as humanity chokes the life out of nature.

Returning to the start of the poem, the writer uses the term ‘Shepherd’ which emphasizes the importance of the narrator and gives the scene a more ‘holy’ and peaceful vibe. In reference to the Bible, Jesus is described as a Shepherd. Following suit, ‘turf’ was used to describe the terrain in the following line, which can be taken in a protective tone and be a way to claim the land as God’s, which he would only be lending to humanity. Yet, despite the kindness of God to lend his land, humanity has the audacity to destroy it. It can make it seem like Jesus is watching the transformation of his Father’s/God’s creation into a monster. This comparison between Jesus and the narrator makes the scene even more impactful by begging the question as to why humanity has turned this ‘celestial’ scenery, in which the Shepherd grazes, into a destroyed horror?

Choosing the name The Sea View causes the reader to assume that the poem will be a simple description and analysis of the ocean, but after a deeper look into the meaning of the poem, using the Sea as a descriptor makes more than enough sense. An ocean is seen as something vast and endless, still unexplored and although beautiful from the surface, very dangerous once submerged above the neck. This can be seen as a perfect representation of human nature. Humans have defeated all odds by evolving to this point, growing, and creating new ways to connect and grow, yet with all the advancements, there are a multitude of drawbacks. A larger, more knowledgeable population means a need to control and maintain order, or gain power in the process of that false face. Every bunch has a bad apple but humanity proves that an entire bundle can go bad once one leads the way, Smith decides. Humanity has become insensitive to their environment during their constant fights for economic and technological growth, causing us to not only destroy nature, but also each other, as seen in her descriptions of war. Ending The Sea View with the last line of “Ah! Thus man spoils glorious works with blood” (1. 14) only exudes the disdain Smith has for humanity.

Wordsworth’s poem, The World is Too Much with Us, follows much of the same themes as Smith’s. The poem states:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

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! (1. 1-4)

He discusses humanity’s obsession with material goods in the second line, and when intertwined with the first line, he is claiming that humans don’t take time into account when it comes to turning the cogs of capitalism and working/spending until they reach their deathbed. As he moves to the third line, he describes the loss of connection that humans have with their environment, making them seem ungrateful, taking everything around them for granted. Continuing to the fourth line, Wordsworth uses ‘sordid boon’ in order to describe humans; sordid, meaning immoral and selfish, and boon meaning a gift or blessing. He calls attention towards the idea that humanity is a spoiled gift, one with potential that rotted to the core, its greed ruining the world around it.

Unlike Smith who starts off her poem with a beautiful description of the soothing environment and then forcing the scenery array, Wordsworth moves his to the middle of his sonnet, right after his first digs at human nature. He describes nature with femininity and much like a mother, stating that “This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon.” (1. 5) Claiming that the Earth is much like a mother, which makes the actions of humans even more horrifying, begging the question of who could destroy their nurturing caretaker?

He proceeds with his digs at humanity, stating that “For this, for everything, we are out of tune.” (11. 8) Despite the beauty of the world around us, we are the one imperfection that doesn’t mend in to the flawless machine and eventually lead to its destruction, much like an out of tune string on a violinist’s instrument which would ruin the entire performance. Wordsworth wishes for the impossible in the following lines:

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. (1. 9-14)

He lets out an outcry and begs for a return of Ancient Pagans to return the world to its former and true beauty, even begging for himself to become a Pagan (which is odd for someone from Christian England to say about an outdated religion) in order to be forever embedded in a world of pure beauty, untouched by industrialism.

Industrialization is compared to utmost calamity in both Wordsworth’s and Smith’s poetry, speaking to the public of the hours to bring if their actions continue to move into natures front. This issue is still very prevalent today, but no one has seemed to listen to their outcries until the very last minute. What is for the world to come?