Read and Analyze Poem, Example: “My Heart Leaps Up”

Read and Analyze Poem.

Example: “My Heart Leaps Up”

My Heart Leaps Up

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.

Poem Analysis

1.   Paraphrase

        The poem of “My heart leaps up when I behold”, written by William Wordsworth. The poem was written in 1802, but wasn’t published until 1807. Wordsworth’s poetry was greatly influenced by nature as he grew older, principally formed by his surroundings as he lived in England’s Lake District for many years. The speaker describes his connection to nature, expressing nature as a constant factor throughout the stages of life: child, man, and elderly. The true extent of the importance of nature is revealed that he would rather die than to live without nature.

        The poet says that his heart leaps up when he sees a rainbow in the sky. It was the beginning of his life, and now he’s well grown up. He knows that he will grow old and finally die, too. As the child (past) is father (future) of the man (present), the poet wishes his days to be bound to each period (past, present and future) by natural piety, that is, natural blessing of divinely power.

        The distinction of Wordsworth lies in the fact that to him Nature was not mere physical loneliness, but a revelation of God. He worshiped nature. He saw in all natural objects the indwelling spirit of Supreme Being. To him he varied forms and phenomena were nothing but manifestation of the divine.  He realized that to love nature is to Man who is part and parcel of the nature. Nature is the great teacher and healer. In the first two line of the poem, the poet feels his heart leaps up at the sight of a rainbow in the sky. The nature has produced a good effect on the poetic mind of Wordsworth. The poet has been turned to the skepticism of life because of the spectrum of the rainbow.

        In the third, fourth and fifth lines, he has found natural continuation of life – child, man and old man. In the fifth line, there is speculation (guess) of the break in the continuation. Death is inevitable to end the beautiful period of life.

The seventh line is basically the main theme of the poem. The widely accepted proverb, “The Child is the Father of Man” has to tell us a lot. It says that the present is the outcome of the past. So naturally the future will be the outcome of the past. The last two lines conclude the argument. The poet, therefore, concludes wishing that his days should be bound to each period of life by natural way with divinely pleasure.

2.   RHYME & RHYTM

Ø  It is blank verse poetry

Ø  Rhythm : Iambic tetrameter

Ø  Rhyme scheme:

My heart leaps up when I behold        a
    A rainbow in the sky                  b
So was it when my life began            c
    So is it now I am a man                       c
So be it when I shall grow old,            a
    Or let me die!                                b
The Child is father of the Man           c
And I could wish my days to be         d
Bound each to each by natural piety.   d

3.  Figurative Language

Ø  Personification

My Heart Leaps up

In reality, Heart cannot leaps but here it expresses a great joy upon the sight of the rainbow.

Ø  Extended metaphor

A rainbow in the sky:
So it was when my life began;
So it is not that I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!” (|| 2-6)

To express that life is not worth living without a connection to nature

Ø  Paradox

The Child is father of the Man

The poet has expressed his opinion about the natural growth of a human being in which a child always develops into man. A man can never transform into child

4.    Symbols and Imagery

Ø  Symbols

−      Behold

Represents to see or observe something, not to hold it.

−      Rainbow

Represents to the excitement in life

−      Natural piety

Represent to the religion that is natural, or not forced. 

Ø  Imagery

−      Natural imagery

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky

        The usage of this image is used to express the beauty that nature has to offer. The poet uses this image to express that he was born into a world of beauty and that in order to make life worth living, people must embrace nature and the beauty within it.

−      Age imagery

So was it when my life began
So is it now I am a man
So be it when I shall grow old, 

       This poem covers the range of human life, from childhood, to adulthood, to old age and death. It stresses the influence of childhood throughout life, not just until one "matures." The most important part of that childhood influence, it is the unbridled joy that a child finds in the natural world.

5.  Subject Matter

This poem covers the range of human life, from childhood, to adulthood, to old age and death.

6.  Theme

The theme of this poem is about the nature of life

7.  Reason

This poem is expressing nature as a constant factor throughout the stages of life : child, man, and elderly. The true extent of the importance of nature is revealed that he would rather die than to live without nature.

8.  Enjambment.

        In poetry, when one line ends without a pause and continues into the next line for its meaning. This is also called a run-on line. The transition between the first two lines of Wordsworth’s poem "My Heart Leaps Up" demonstrates enjambment

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky