It moves us to not Great God I’d rather be
It moves us to not Great God I’d rather be The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon Great God: I’d rather be The shadow of the dome of the pleasure A damsel with a dulcimer. All Explanation of The New Golden Treasury
It moves us to not, Great God! I’d rather be
Apagansuck led in a creed outworn…
So might I, standing in the pleasant Ica
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wretched horn.
Expl. These lines are taken from the poem, The world is too much with us“ composed by Wordsworth, the high priest of nature. Here he describes with pains and anguish, man’s utter disregard for the beauty of Nature.
Nature unfolds its beauty in one and a thousand ways. But the people of this modern world have no time to stand and stare. They are tried to work a day world. They run alter material gain.
Nothing else matters. The glorious beauty of nature does not attract their attention. They are rather immune and indifferent to it.
This unresponsiveness, surprise the poet. He, therefore, prefers to have been a pagan. This world has provided him with ample opportunities to enjoy the sight of the sun emerging from the sea. He would have then enjoyed the heavenly scene of the sea at the sea-rise.
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon
The 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,
For this, for everything we are out of tune.
Expl. These lines have been taken from the poem. “The World is too much with us” composed by Wordsworth. He was essentially a poet of nature. But he was also a poet of a man with deep human sympathy. His poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
Here the poet deplores man’s indifference to the beauty of nature. Materialistic pursuits have made a cog in the wheel of life. He is not alive to the beauty and wonder of Nature. He thinks only in terms of material gain. The more he has, the more he hankers after.
He leads life at a feverish pace. His nerves are ever on the edge. He is hurried and harassed. The cool and heating touch of Nature can do him a lot of good. But he does not respond to the beauty of Nature which unfolds in one and a thousand ways.
The poet describes the evening scene when nature presents a fine spectacle. The moon comes up. The sea swells due to the attraction of the moon.
It is like a beloved baring her bosom to welcome her lover. The wind is gentle like sleeping flowers. The moon is reflected in the sea. How enticing and wonderful! But woe to the man who is insensitive to such a beautiful scene of nature.
It is the anguished cry of a man who was not only a lower a Nature but also its worshipper.
Great God: I’d rather be
Great God: I’d rather be.
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn.
So might; I standing on the pleasant lea.
Have a glimpse that would make you less forlorn.
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea.
Hear old triton blow his wreathed horn.
Expl. Wordsworth is deeply pained to find gross indifference of the people of his time to the beauties of nature on account of their growing materialism.
They are wasting energy by earning money and spending it. This material pursuit takes all their time. They have no time left for any spiritual pleasure.
The poet stands alone on the seashore and watches how the swells as the moon rise. He thinks of a beloved baring her bosom to receive her lover.
The wind is gentle and calm. The lawn where he stands is pleasant. But he is alone. No other is there to enjoy the scene.
The poet prefers paganism to Christianity. If the Christians are materialistic and not spiritual, it is better to be a pagan. The pagans of ancient Greece imagined the presence of Gods and Godness in different aspects of Nature.
If Wordsworth were a pagan, he would see Proteus. The pagan sea God, rising from the sea. He would hear Triton and other sea-god, blow his twisted born made of the shell of conch then he would feel less lonely.
It is said that Proteus looked after the sea and Triton blew his horn to full the waves. Triton had the shape of a dolphin with the head of a man Wordsworth in his imagination can see Proteus and hear Triton blowing his born.
But he is not a pagan. He wants that Christians should not be wholly materialistic. If they turn to nature, the poet will think of paganism.
The shadow of the dome of the pleasure
The shadow of the dome of the pleasure,
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was scared the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was the miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice.
Expl. These lines have been taken from the famous dream poem “Kubla Khan” by S.T. Coleridge. In this poem, the poet in his dream conceives of a palace with ‘sunny pleasure dome, and a cave of ice.
The poet after presenting in the picture of his Capital city and also of the river, its torrential water, and the covering woods comes to describe the palace by the river.
The palace with pleasure domes stood by the river. Its shadow fell and floated on the waves. Here the beautiful sound was heard.
This sound was a blended note coming from the fountain on the caves. It was a rare miracle of a miraculous sight. It included both ‘sunny pleasure-dome and cave of ice’.
A damsel with a dulcimer
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw,
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer, she played
Singing of Mount Abora.
Expl. These lines have been taken from Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan‘ a famous dream poem. Here is a coherent dream down with all conscious grip on art and imagination. The present lines term dream within a dream.
The whole poem is a product of a dream that in the above line, the poet says that in a dream once he had been an Abyssinian girl playing on dulcimer and mount Abora.
Here the girl of Abyssinia, dulcimer, and mount Abora all are imaginary elements forming the dream poem.
