THE LESSON OF THE WAVE 281 



in the beginning of other new and analogous 

 habits. 



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-gather'd 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. 



