My Heart Leaps Up

Wordsworth’s short poem on the joy he feels at seeing a rainbow, as he did in childhood, with its line “The Child is father of the Man”.

My heart leaps up when I beholdA 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 beBound each to each by natural piety.

Famous lines

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

  (The Rainbow), ll. 1-2 (wr. 1802; pub. 1807)In context

  • Happiness
  • Nature

• The Child is Father of the Man;
  And I could wish my days to be
  Bound each to each by natural piety.

  In context

  • Age
  • Children