Wordsworth, William - My heart leaps up (2)

The poetry of Wordsworth

My 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 piety.

This poem, written by William Wordsworth in 1802, it is a typical lyrical ballad about the rainbow. In the text the poet shows his happiness when he sees the rainbow. : The poet says when he sees it, he feels happy.

Analysis of the structure

The poem is composed by only one stanza, which is made up of 9 lines, which have an irregular length, are aligned and begin with capital letters.

There is an irregular rhyme scheme: ABCCABCDE. There are two run-on-lines: lines 1-2 “when I behold a rainbow in the sky” and lines 8-9 “to be bound each to each”. There are also three repetitions of the word “so” in lines 3-4-5.

In addition, in line 7 there is a paradox (“The child is father of the man”): he declares that children are superior to men because of their proximity to nature. Moreover, we can notice that in line 3-4-5, there are three different tenses: was (past-childhood), is (present-maturity), be (future-old age).

Personal interpretation

I like this poem because it makes me think of the rainbow’s effect on me and also at all the stories my parents told me when I was a child.