MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD

William Wordsworth

My Heart Leaps up when I behold is a poem written by a famous nature poet William Wordsworth. In this poem, the poet recollects/remembers an experience of his childhood days and gives his emotion and feelings a meaning. The poet also expresses his love towards nature. He feels great joy when he sees a rainbow in the sky. He used to enjoy a lot when he saw the rainbow in the sky in his childhood. He hopes he will still get pleasure at seeing the rainbow when he becomes old and if such feeling stops in the future he wishes to die.

According to the poet, child is the father of man because childhood is the beginning of the manhood. In other words, the qualities of the grown up men are all derived from childhood. At last, the poet wishes that his remaining days would be bound by his love to nature.

A paradox is a statement containing opposite ideas that make it unlikely although it may be true. The above statement is paradoxical in the sense that it contains opposite ideas for normal people. The child cannot be the father; he is the man who can be the father. But, the poet through his statement "The Child is the Father of the Man", wants to say that childhood is the beginning of manhood. The thing we do and feel as children affect the way we feel when we are adults. The poet also wants to say that the present is the result of past.

Important Questions

1. Explain the paradox ‘The Child is the father of Man’. 

Ans: In this poem the poet William Wordsworth says, “The child is the father of man”. He wants to say that present is the outcome of past. According to him, the child grows up and becomes father. Manhood is outcome of the childhood. So, the poet says this statement. This paradox might have different meaning. The poet might have said that the child is innocent. We can learn many things from the child who never lies. In reality, we try to learn from father. We can also say that a man can be younger by age but may be more matured by mind that is what the poet wants to express through this paradox. 

2. Why does the heart of the poet leap up when he sees a rainbow in the sky? 

Ans: The poet William Wordsworth is identified as a nature loving poet. He enjoys on nature and natural things. The poet was the worshiper of the nature. He enjoys the scenic beauty of nature. He saw the same rainbow when he was a child. It is the same as in the past. It will remain the same but the poet will die soon. Here, the rainbow symbolizes the continuation in his life but it is not possible. So, his heart leaps up. 

FURTHER READING

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold is one of a famous poem written by a famous English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In this very short poem consisting of only 9 lines, the speaker begins by declaring that he is moved by nature, and especially by nature's beauty: "My heart leaps up when I behold / A Rainbow in the sky." He goes on to say that he has always felt the impact of nature, even when he was an infant: "So was it when my life began; / So is it now I am a man." The speaker is so certain of his connection with nature that he says it will be constant (fixed) until he becomes an old man, or else he would rather die: "So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die!" The poet is a great lover of nature as well as true worshiper of God and nature. The poet recollects (remembers) the experiences of his childhood days and gives his emotion and feeling a meaning that he wants continuity of life and nature. For him, nature is both God and religion. In this poem, he not only presents the reality of human life but also shows a deep respect to God and religion wishing his days to be bound each to each by natural piety (righteousness by virtue of being pious).

The poet says that he becomes very happy to see the nature going on in the same way. So, he says that his heart leaps up with great happiness or joy when he sees a beautiful rainbow in the sky. The colorful rainbow symbolizes the continuity of the nature and colorful human life. The rainbow was there in the sky when the poet was born and he has now become a matured man. He also wants the rainbow to be in the sky when he has become a matured man. He also wants the rainbow to be the same in future. In the next line he declares that children are superior to men because of their proximity (closeness/nearness) to nature: "The Child is father of the Man." For this reason, he wishes to bind himself to his childhood self: "And I could wish my days to be / Bound each to each by natural piety." He says that present is the result of the past and future will be the result of the present. In this way the poet shows that time and nature are ongoing phenomena of universe. If there is any break in this continuation, the poet wants to die. The poet also says that both are inevitable.

The poet presents his main idea of the poem through the paradoxical line “The Child (past) is the father (present) of the future.” The poet means to say that human life begins from childhood. A man can’t be a father without being a child. According to the poet, father means from whom the creation of new generation takes place. It is the child from whom the manhood begins. Thus the child is really the father of man. Yesterday’s child is today’s man (father) and today’s man is tomorrow’s father. The poet also says that nature is God, religion and source of life and inspiration. He worships, loves and respects the nature. He also wishes the continuation of time (past, present and future) in the nature in the same way.