名人教你讲英文：人与自然的距离

名人教英文：人与自然的距离

早前介绍过田园诗人william wordsworth的composed upon westminster bridge，今次介绍的the world is too much with us也是他的作品，同样采用意大利十四行诗petrarchan sonnet的格式，前段八行，后段六行，于1802年写成。当时正值英国工业革命，物质文明突飞猛进；热爱自然的wordsworth认为人应透过接触大自然来培育灵性，故藉这首诗批评物质主义埋没心性。

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!
the 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.
wordsworth慨叹，俗世充斥物质诱惑，人沉迷于物欲和消费，失去和大自然相通的能力，放失本心。sordid boon（卑贱的恩惠）是oxymoron（矛盾语），意指世人牺牲心性所换来的物质回报并无价值。