Michael’s Blog

This poetry “The World Is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth is a 14 line sonnet. This poem has the theme of nature just like most poems. The rhyme scheme follows ABBA ABBA pattern in the octave and CDCDCD rhyme scheme in the sestet. The meter is also an Iambic Pentameter which consists of 5 iambs. Wordsworth made this sonnet in 1802 during the Romanticism, also known as the Romantic era. This era was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution,the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature—all components of modernity. Wordsworth sounds frustrated in human society because we don’t cherish nature and waste its resources. This reasoning can be shown in line 2 and line 3 where he says “we waste our powers” and “Little we see in Nature that is ours;” The “World” in the title means that the world cares too much and concerns such as money, possessions, and power. The other part “Too Much With Us” means human society cares too much about these possessions. Too many people have used up the world’s resources due to their greed and it is harming nature. In line 8 to 10, “For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn.” The line “we are out of tune” means that society is out of tune with nature because of our worldly desires. The author says he would rather be a pagan, person who has no religious beliefs, than to be distracted by worldly desires and be unable to enjoy the true beauties of life. The sonnet has a lot of figurative language like allusion and personification about nature. For example, “This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon” is a personification because it is giving the sea human characteristics with bosom. This description shows a mutual relationship between the sea and the moon. Another example of figurative language is allusion in lines 12 to 14 which says  “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.” These lines reference two Greek gods Triton and Proteus. Proteus was a prophetic old man of the sea and believed to know everything, including past, present, and future. The speaker implies that if he was pagan he could possibly see Proteus out in the sea and even interact with him. Triton is the god of the sea and son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. It was believed that Triton was able to calm the waves of the sea, so the speaker also implies if he looks out into the sea and enjoys nature, he is able to see Triton. I relate to this sonnet because I also believe nature is more precious than our worldly desires. Nature provides us with many essentials to live from plants that provide us oxygen, animals to eat, and the sun to give us sunlight. Without it, we would all perish and this world would be nothing but a cold, giant rock which is why we should appreciate it.

This poem compares his experiences with love to wolves surviving in the wild. The title “I Wake in a Field of Wolves with the Moon” helps show me that it is about the speaker exploring their identity and relationships. The author, Jose Olivarez, seems to be using love, survival, and self-awareness themes. My thoughts on the speaker are that Olivarez has a painful experience with love because he describes his “scars” and “teeth” in the poem. Olivarez uses many poetic techniques like symbolism, metaphor, anaphora, personification, and cacophony to help convey the themes and meanings of the poem. The wolves, the moon, and the scars are extended metaphors and symbols representing survival, self-awareness, and love. Wolves are symbolized to be animals who have to toughen up to survive in harsh environments. In line 1, “The repetition of “I know” in the third stanza is an example of anaphora which creates a rhythmic emphasis on the speaker’s self-knowledge and certainty, contrasting the chaos they face. “Burped up”, in line 17, is a cacophony phrase that uses harsh words to show the brutality of Olivarez’s experience with love. In line 12 and the title, “a Field of Wolves” suggests that Olivarez is surrounded by a harsh environment in real life just as being in danger in the middle of a pack of wolves. “licking dirt from their paws and know who I am” is an example of personification. The wolves are the subject of the line and have the human characteristic trait of “know” to imply a depth of understanding and recognition of Olivarez’s identity. He is like one with the wolf pack and is friendly to him. Another poetic technique is the poem’s visceral and gentle diction of words like “corpses” and “moon”. These connotations of these words emphasize the complexity of love and scars might be painful but it also shows how strong we are. A significant shift occurs in the fourth stanza “Who I am when the wolves don’t attack me.” Here, the speaker transitions from focusing on survival and scars to exploring their identity and relationships when not under threat. This transition shows a reflective moment where Olivarez examines his inner peace and capacity for love. Another shift is in the closing lines, where the speaker declares their acceptance of love’s ferocity, moving from reflection to resolution. The linear structure gave the poem a fluid, conservative rhythm. For instance, Olivarez uses enjambment, in lines 5-6, “trace those scars & you have a map / to my heart” which flows seamlessly, emphasizing continuity and interconnectedness. Another technique for linear structure in the poem is end-stopping. In the final line, “I know my love knows when to hide” Olivarez shows a meaningful impact to the end by describing how he will choose wisely on who he loves. The poem’s lack of traditional stanzas and its fragmented indentation reflect the chaotic and complex nature of love, and even the layout of the poem reflects his unpredictable experiences and emotions. The poem resonates with moments where love or personal growth felt intense and raw, marked by challenges that left lasting impressions—both painful and empowering. The metaphor of “scars” as a map to the heart reflects how difficult experiences shape identity and relationships. This reminds me of my vulnerability with my ADD. I had to learn how to embrace it, whether in relationships, running, or going to school. I had to accept that I might have a disadvantage in certain aspects of my life, and I had to work harder to be on par with others. Even with my ADD and the difficulty I had with it, I was able to make it into a source of strength.

The title of the poem shows that it is about rumors and gossip specifically in school. The author, Jose Olivarez shows his thoughts about how rumors and gossip gains momentum or how it spreads to people. Olivarez uses his experience of “The Girl From First Period With The Cute Smile” to describe a rumor about the girl wearing a scarf to hide hickeys. But later, he finds out the rumor is false because she doesn’t even have a scarf on to hide anything. Even though the rumor was false, Jose believed his friend that the girl did have a hickey and might have spread it to others. This is an example of misinformation and happens a lot even in our school. For example, I know a person who had a rumor about her being violent because she did not like to talk to people and always wore black clothes in middle school. But in actuality, she was actually very kind, and I am actually great friends with her now. Then the poem shifts from gossip to a truth and a lie, he says the difference between a truth and a lie is that “a lie hasn’t happened yet.” I relate to this line because I have lied to people by saying things that I am not certain about, but, sometimes, they do actually happen. So, is it a lie even though it happened or is it just me being dishonest to people because I was not sure? After Olivarez talks about the difference between a truth and lie, the poem shifts subjects from talking about lies and truth to love. He switches subjects in the middle of the poem because, at the end of the poem, he connects the ideas of love and lying. Olivarez says that the difference between a lie and a truth is that “a lie hasn’t happened yet.” He says that “some of us practiced saying I love you to the mirror, that was a lie we wanted to believe.” Olivarez uses his interpretation of lying in this sentence to explain that some of us want to love ourselves someday. I find this quote hit deep for me because even though I want to fully love myself, but, right now, I feel uncertain whether I can embrace myself. I find the allusion of “The Juke Jams” interesting and shows a lot of depth to the author’s interests. “Juke Jams” is a song from Chance the Rapper that reflects on youthful love and moments of intimacy just like the examples used in the poem. Olivarez uses this allusion to show his ideas of rumors, lies, and love in a cultural context. Another interesting thing about this poem is how Olivarez describes people. He uses descriptions to talk about people like “The Girl From First Period With The Cute Smile” and “My Homie Who Started Smoking Cigarettes In The Eighth Grade.” I think he uses these long descriptions to show how important these people were in his life and how they deepened his understanding of the world. This idea is reinforced when he talks about his parents because he does not have a long description of his parents. It makes sense because the next line says that “his parents hadn’t kissed since the steel mill closed” which probably means for a very long time. The line can also show that his parents may not only show economic hardship but also a decline in their connection. I like how in this poem it talks about the three different subjects of gossip, lying, and love, and, in the end, shows how they correlate with one another.

BIO

Jose Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants, and the author of two collections of poems, including, most recently, Promises of Gold—which was long listed for the 2023 National Book Awards. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. Along with Felicia Rose Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he co-edited the poetry anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT. Alongside Antonio Salazar, he published the hybrid book, Por Siempre in 2023. He lives in Jersey City, NJ.

In 2018, he was awarded the first annual Author and Artist in Justice Award from the Phillips Brooks House Association and named a Debut Poet of 2018 by Poets & Writers. In 2019, he was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.

As a performer and educator, Olivarez has delivered workshops and performances across the United States and México at festivals like the San Antonio Book Festival, the Wisconsin Book Festival, The National Book Festival, the O Miami Poetry Festival and more. He has presented at universities including Northwestern University, The University of Missouri- Kansas City, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, SUNY College at Geneseo, Napa Valley College and more.

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