He wants every day to be tied together by an ongoing theme of love for the world. In the last two lines of the poem, Wordsworth closes by reiterating the idea that he hopes to continue being in awe of nature. Wordsworth is saying we should be like children in this way and that we should hold on to our childhood sense of the world. They have an unending sense of wonder and awe regarding nature and, indeed, life itself. The greater implication is that, as a parent, a child can be a great teacher and a great role model.Ĭhildren are constantly experiencing the world as if for the first time. We come from children as children come from their parents. In his typical fashion, Wordsworth gives a seemingly straightforward metaphor, which actually has enormous implications.Īll people were once children, so the line makes some sense on that level. This is, perhaps, the most important line of ‘My Heart Leaps Up’. Death would be preferable to becoming a jaded cynic who cannot grasp the wonder of nature. Then, he says “Or let me die!” The fairly unambiguous interpretation here is that the poet would rather die than find the world around him boring and bereft of beauty. First, he states that he hopes to continue to be mesmerized by nature well into old age. Wordsworth gets a bit extreme in these lines. It also helps readers to understand that the meaning of these lines is internally connected. This device (anaphora) is used to emphasize his idea. Wordsworth has been a fan of nature from the very start.īoth lines begin similarly with the word “So”. His sense of wonder began when he was born and persisted throughout his childhood, into his adulthood. In these lines, the poet describes that he has always felt the same visceral, joyous reaction to a rainbow and to nature as a whole. As the poem goes on, however, he will argue that we should all share his sense of wonder. Most grown men do not react with the same level of enthusiasm to a rainbow. Wordsworth’s reaction is somewhat extreme. Rainbows are, universally, regarded as beautiful, but the rainbow in this poem is a symbol of nature as a whole. He says, “My heart leaps up…” This is an extreme reaction to a not uncommon meteorological event. It’s obvious that the poet has a deep affinity for the natural world. In the first lines of the poem, Wordsworth explains his reaction to a rainbow. Allusion: This poem probably contains an allusion to the rainbow of Noah.Metaphor: In the line “The Child is the father of the Man,” Wordsworth implicitly compares a child to a would-be father.This line is also a rhetorical exclamation. Hyperbole: It occurs in “Or let me die”. Anaphora: Lines three to five begin similarly.Synecdoche: It occurs in the first line “My heart leaps up when I behold”.Wordsworth’s ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ contains the following literary devices that make the poetic thoughts more appealing to readers. There are three variations: the second line is in iambic trimeter, the sixth line contains two iambs, and the last line is in iambic pentameter. Regarding the meter, the poem is written in iambic tetrameter. Each line ends with one of 4 sounds, each sound is repeated twice, except “man,” which ends two lines and is rhymed with “began.” The rhyme scheme of this piece can be sketched as ABCCABCDD. There are a total of nine lines in this piece. The poem’s simplicity carries over into its use of rhyme scheme. Besides, the theme of aging is displayed in the fifth line. This theme is present in the third and seventh lines. The theme of childhood is another important aspect of this piece. He wishes never to lose touch with nature even if he grows old. The rainbow is nothing other than a bridge that connects poets to the spiritual self. A glimpse of the rainbow is like having glimpses of the divine entity. For him, nature is a true embodiment of God. The main theme of this piece like most of his poems is nature and the beauty in it. This poem consists of the following themes: nature, childhood, beauty, and aging. According to him, nature, symbolized by the rainbow, will always be divine, and he thinks it should be for everyone. If it does not happen, he will embrace death unquestionably. He wishes to retain this childish self even if he matures and grows old. As an adult, he still enjoys the beauty of a rainbow. It is not that the sensation of joy existed in his heart when he was a child. Whenever Wordsworth beholds it, his heart gets filled with enthusiasm and energy. This poem begins with a reference to a rainbow. ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ by William Wordsworth centers on a rainbow, a symbol of nature and how the poet wishes to keep his childlike self alive.
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