Countee Cullen's The World Is Too Much With Us

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William Wordsworth, Countee Cullen, and Mahmoud Darwish, all respected authors from different areas of the world, as well as eras, exemplify the corruption of society through their powerful poems. Wordsworth, an influential English poet, explains how people stray from morality through his frequent comparison between nature and society in “The World Is Too Much With Us.” Wordsworth exhibits disapproval of the materialistic life through his extreme explanation of situations he would rather face. In addition, as an important figure during the Harlem Renaissance, Cullen describes the abrupt manner of people he encounters through his vague memories of his life in Africa. Cullen characterizes the fear, anger, and incivility of people living in …show more content…

The corruption of society further displays itself through the continuous exasperation people direct towards one another. Avoiding the animosity of society seems difficult “in a country where everything/ Lies in a whirlpool of anger”(20-21). People demonstrate a nefarious nature that continues, like a raging vortex, to spiral through the stereotypical manner society portrays. Additionally, The corruption of society extends into the government, for the officials direct little sympathy towards even those who struggle to live each day: “You left us and all my grandchildren/ Nothing but these rocks/ Will your government be taking them too”(52-54). The Arabic government exhibits no generosity to its people by seizing many of their belongings. As a result, those who are suppressed under the power of the corruption of society become hostile as the incivility spreads to even the most generous of people. Darwish argues, “I shall eat the flesh of my usurper/ Beware, beware of my hunger/ And of my anger”(61-63). Over time, the oppressive rule towards the affable person causes him to become contentious; consequently, society as a whole loses its hospitality, resulting in a rage among all people. Through the various situations Darwish encounters, he manages to display the moral decay of society by explaining not only the vicious lifestyle of people but also their stereotypical

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