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!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
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;
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 wreathed horn.
-William Wordsworth, 1807
“sordid boon” indeed. i like this. While i can’t agree that it’s better to be a pagan than it is to be a materialist unmoved by the beauty of Nature surrounding us… I do still agree that it’s good to remember to look out the window every once in a while, and remember the wonder that is in the shape of trees and clouds…