الرئيسية
William Wordsworth's piece, "The Rainbow," offers an intriguing look into the human soul. Standing at only ten lines, the poem details a journey through Wordsworth's philosophical beliefs.
Although it appears simplistic, this poem details many complex ideas. Wordsworth's opening lines explain how: "My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky" (1-2). Wordsworth is overjoyed at nature, a common theme in all of his work, but what's more is that he states: "So was it when my life began; / So it is now I am a man; / So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die!" (3-6).
As a child, ("when my life began") Wordsworth felt the same way about rainbows and nature as he does now, completely awestruck and in reverence. Moreover, Wordsworth hopes his adoration of nature will continue as he matures, even to his death bed. If not, Wordsworth would rather die prematurely.
The last three lines contain one of Wordsworth's most famous phrases: "The Child is father of the Man; / And I could wish my days to be / Bound each to each by natural piety" (7-10). Wordsworth is happy enough to have kept his appreciation of nature and only wishes it will last him forever, in "natural piety."
With the line: "The Child is father of the Man", Wordsworth evokes a number of ideas. To start, Wordsworth details how the child is father simply through greatness. The child falls in love with nature as soon as it is born. This admiration is both an inherent trait as well as something to be gained when the child first looks at the world in its majesty.
Thus, in one sense, the child is father to the man because it has an understanding of nature's pure energy, while men can lose this awareness all too easily (as they lose their childlike innocence). Men who do not appreciate nature therefore are in such a regressed state that they cannot fully comprehend God or what it means to achieve greatness (understanding where all of God's materialization appears in the world).
In another sense, children are intrinsically innocent, and this innocence is exemplified in understanding the value of nature and God, in relation to the human soul. Because children are aware of the value in nature (they still have their innocence after all), they and their soul are on a higher level with God than man can attain, and thus are: "father of the Man."
Wordsworth himself is consequently in quite the interesting predicament. Although he is no child, he has kept his appreciation of nature and often takes pleasure
Although it appears simplistic, this poem details many complex ideas. Wordsworth's opening lines explain how: "My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky" (1-2). Wordsworth is overjoyed at nature, a common theme in all of his work, but what's more is that he states: "So was it when my life began; / So it is now I am a man; / So be it when I shall grow old, / Or let me die!" (3-6).
As a child, ("when my life began") Wordsworth felt the same way about rainbows and nature as he does now, completely awestruck and in reverence. Moreover, Wordsworth hopes his adoration of nature will continue as he matures, even to his death bed. If not, Wordsworth would rather die prematurely.
The last three lines contain one of Wordsworth's most famous phrases: "The Child is father of the Man; / And I could wish my days to be / Bound each to each by natural piety" (7-10). Wordsworth is happy enough to have kept his appreciation of nature and only wishes it will last him forever, in "natural piety."
With the line: "The Child is father of the Man", Wordsworth evokes a number of ideas. To start, Wordsworth details how the child is father simply through greatness. The child falls in love with nature as soon as it is born. This admiration is both an inherent trait as well as something to be gained when the child first looks at the world in its majesty.
Thus, in one sense, the child is father to the man because it has an understanding of nature's pure energy, while men can lose this awareness all too easily (as they lose their childlike innocence). Men who do not appreciate nature therefore are in such a regressed state that they cannot fully comprehend God or what it means to achieve greatness (understanding where all of God's materialization appears in the world).
In another sense, children are intrinsically innocent, and this innocence is exemplified in understanding the value of nature and God, in relation to the human soul. Because children are aware of the value in nature (they still have their innocence after all), they and their soul are on a higher level with God than man can attain, and thus are: "father of the Man."
Wordsworth himself is consequently in quite the interesting predicament. Although he is no child, he has kept his appreciation of nature and often takes pleasure