Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
-- The Speaker

Importance: This line is important because with it the speaker emphasizes one of the main drawbacks they see to modern society, which is the endless pursuit of material wealth. The alternation between getting and spending suggests a never-ending cycle, while the laying waste of powers implies a sense of futility and a misuse of resources. Thus, this line establishes the problem that the speaker hopes to elucidate in the first part of the sonnet.

Little we see in Nature that is ours.”
-- The Speaker

Importance: This line is significant because it seeks to explain why a spiritual relationship with nature is not viewed as beneficial by modern society. Because modern society is so preoccupied with material wealth and profit, it does not value engagement with the natural world, since there is nothing within it that they want to own or possess. Thus, because it cannot be...