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;
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 wreathèd horn.
I’d rather kick it old school and have beliefs that are mistaken, but focus on what’s important. Would that really be a mistake? 
 
 The poet may also be pointing to the power of the imagination: actual experience on the “pleasant lea” can inspire the imagination to see and hear amazing things–Proteus and Triton–and bring the viewer closer to truth (less forlorn). Cool irony–Proteus and Triton may be outdated, but by exercising the imagination they lead to new inspiration and truth.
The world is too much with us...