Wordsworth

My modern translation of "The world is too much with us:" (by William Wordsworth)

"We Are Overrun with Human Materialism"

Money, power, greed—Human materialism,
It destroys us now, it destroys us quickly;
We are giving away all that is ours—what powers we have, in this destruction:
We see and we take, but it isn’t ours;

What beauty we’ve known—
We’ve given it away with our hearts in the worst mistake of our lives.
Beauty, nature, sun, moon, and stars—where are they now in our eyes?
Our hearts do not rejoice in the howling of the wind, the greatness of the sea,
Nor the joy of springtime flowers.
We are not moved. No!
Our hearts are not changed by nature, nor its powers;
And it makes me sick!
We are weak, sickened, unchanged, and immune.
I’d rather be a fool caught up in the lies of Christianity:
Believing in what has been proven wrong by all humanity.
So, now, from where I stand,
I long for this:
That I might see the gods and their creation,
And that they would move me to joy, change,
New life!