Concetti Chiave
- The poem "My heart leaps up" by William Wordsworth is a lyrical ballad celebrating the joy of seeing a rainbow.
- It consists of a single stanza with 9 lines of irregular length and an irregular rhyme scheme: ABCCABCDE.
- Wordsworth employs a paradox in line 7, "The child is father of the man," suggesting children's closeness to nature makes them superior.
- The poem uses different tenses to reflect the poet's life stages: past (childhood), present (maturity), and future (old age).
- Repetitions and run-on-lines enhance the poem's rhythm and emphasize the continuity of the poet's feelings towards nature.
La poesia di 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.
Analisi della struttura
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).
Interpretazione personale
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.