In "The World is Too Much with Us," what is too much with us?

“Late” refers to the most recent past and the present.
“Soon” is the future. Wordsworth’s theme or warning here is that in recent and future
times, it seems that humans have lost touch with nature and therefore, have lost a sense
of their sensitivity and the spiritual world because they are preoccupied with material
things.

But I understand that the first line/title can seem
ambiguous. Wordsworth is making a clear distinction between the industrialized, material
society and nature. “World” can mean the Earth itself or the social life we
live.

In my interpretation, in this poem, “world” means
that social, material life. And Nature would be the Earth and organic life. So, what
does it mean to say that the “world” is too much with us? This way of speaking is not as
common today. But you may hear phrases like “It’s always got to be so dramatic with
you.” This means that you create and sustain dramatic situations. Comparatively, we (us)
make too much of the world. We make too much of the material, industrial world. We have
“given up our hearts” to it. We have lost touch with the natural
Earth.

It’s really a prophetic poem. Using a more modern,
specific example, you might say, “Cell phones are too much with
us.”