The Poetry of Wordsworth Group
Question:
memi
Student
High School - 12th Grade
Answers:
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eNotes Editor
Posted by robertwilliam on Sunday January 4, 2009 at 4:33 AMMY heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man,
So be it when I shall grow old
Or let me die!
The child is father of the man:
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural pietyThe speaker says that their heart "leaps up" for joy, when he sees (beholds) a rainbow in the sky. Rainbows were in the sky when he was born, now that he is a man, and he hopes - if not, he'd rather die! - that they'll be there as he grows old.
The child is like the man's father, he says, because - if you look at it chronologically - the child grows into the father, and so is in a strange way "older", belonging to the past. And, as a child is "bound" (tied) to the man he becomes, Wordsworth's speaker hopes that each day of his life will be bound to the next with "natural piety" (piousness - respectfulness - for nature [or just, "that comes naturally"]).
Hope this helps!
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xoaubrayyxo Student
High School - 10th GradePosted by xoaubrayyxo on Monday September 21, 2009 at 1:32 PMThe poem actually means that when he sees nature, he gets excited and happy.
He hopes when he is an old man he will still enjoy the nature of life.
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