My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold
Short- Question
1. Why does the heart of the poet leap
up when he sees a rainbow in the sky?
2. Explain the paradox in 'The child is
Father of the man'.
3. What does the poet mean by “natural
piety”?
1. My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold
William Wordsworth
Character
I : speaker, poet
One Sentence Summary
The poet's heart leapt up with pleasure by beholding the rainbow in his childhood. So does it in his manhood and he hopes so will it in his old age.
Theme : The present
is the outcome of the past. So naturally the future will be the outcome of the
present.
Summary
The poem is about a rainbow. The poet becomes very happy, when he sees it. He says that human life is changeable but natural things like the rainbow are not changed. Because he has grown to man from his childhood but the rainbow is the same as it was in the past. And it will remain the same in his old age and even after his death. He says that past guides a man in his present. And his past experience teach him a lot in the present and in future. He worshipped nature and wishes to die in the lap of nature.
Long – Question
1. Explain the
paradox in “The child is the father of the man”.
A paradox is a statement that seems to be absurd on contradictory but is or
may be true. Generally we think the man is the father of the child because
father is the source from which something originates. We know that the role of
man is influential behind the birth of the child. A child can never produce a
man, therefore the statement; “the child is the father of the man” is a
paradoxical.
However the poet does not mean that a child can biologically produce a grown up man by the above statement he 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, child posses a seed like quality a seed develops into an autonomous tree and bears flowers and fruits according to the seed similarly the man also inherit all the characteristics from its childhood a kind child manifests cruelty in its manhood. Thus, it can be said that “the child is the father of the man”.
The statement also means present is the outcome of past. The statement assured the poet about the continuity of the time which changes the role of the every creature, among them men have played several roles from the infants to the ages. So, a child in the course of time became father of the man. The child is the father of the man is absurd at a glance though in deeper sense it is bitter truth.
Short- Question
1. Why does the heart of the poet leap up when he sees a rainbow in the sky?
The poet says that his heart leaps up when he sees a rainbow in the sky because it gives him pleasure and makes him satisfy by its luring colour and structure.
The rainbow is very attractive and lovely. The rainbow lures everyone by its color and structure. And it is also the creation of nature. He loves deeply and worships the nature. He saw it in his childhood. Now he is well grown up and it is still in the sky. The poet wishes his days to be bound to each period as past, present and future by natural piety. It gives him pleasure and makes him satisfy. So his heart leaps up when he sees the rainbow in the sky.
2. Explain the paradox in 'The child is Father of the man'.
The poet says," The child is the father of the man“. The statement assured the poet about the continuity of the time which changes the role of the every creature. So, a child in the course of time became father of the man.
He says that present is the outcome of past. According to him, the child grows up and becomes father. Manhood is outcome of the childhood. 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, but a child can be younger by age but may be more matured by mind that is what the poet wants to express through this paradox.
3. What does the poet mean by “natural piety”?
Natural Piety means natural way of worshipping God that provides delightfully pleasures to mind and heart.
The poet is a nature loving person. He is a worshiper of the nature. He thought that the nature is the God. He loves to watch the rainbow and fascinated by its colour, and produces emotion and feeling in him. It remains same forever in the human life. Here “Natural Piety” means natural way of worshipping God that provides delightfully pleasures to mind and heart. And its holiness never changes in the course of times.
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