William Wordsworth Group

Question:

a-lovely
a-lovely
Student
College - Junior

Explain the poem "My Heart Leaps Up" by William Wordsworth in great detail.

Rate question:

Posted by a-lovely on Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 2:44 AM and tagged with explication, my heart leaps up, romanticism, william wordsworth.

Answers:


  1. jamie-wheeler Teacher
    College - Sophomore

    eNotes Editor

    Wordsworth's poem is in the Romantic tradition.  Romanticism is characterized by the highly personal interpretation of meaning, is often charged with emotion, and frequently looks to nature for meaning in life.  Romantic poets shunned the epic tradition of lauding heroes and kings, an instead embraced subjects that affected the poets on an intimate level, whether spiritually, in literature, in history, or philosophy. 

    In this poem, we see the speaker reflecting on the beauty and wonder of nature, of which he is a part: 

    My heart leaps up when I behold

       A rainbow in the sky:

    He realizes that he is a part of the vast circle of life, and that the natural world was present at his birth, as he lives, and will go on after he dies.  Should it not be so, he shudders to think, life would be pointless:

    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 next line refers not only to biological life, but also to spiritual life.  We are God's children, the speaker says:   

    The Child is father of the Man;

    Finally, his inward prayer is that he remember the gift and beauty of life and that he might never take such grace and beauty for granted. 

    And I could wish my days to be

    Bound each to each by natural piety.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/wordsworth

    Rate answer:

    Posted by jamie-wheeler on Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 7:37 AM