When Your Heart Still Leaps: What a Rainbow Can Teach Us About Staying Young Forever
My Heart Leaps Up
William Wordsworth
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.
Reflection
Wordsworth’s My Heart Leaps Up invites us to pause and cherish the moments that make our hearts leap, just as a rainbow does. He reminds us that wonder isn’t just for the young—it’s the golden thread binding all stages of our life. To lose that wonder is, in a way, to stop truly living.
Three Questions to Dive Deeper
- When was the last time something in nature made your heart leap, and how did it affect your mood or thoughts that day?
- How do you interpret the line, “The Child is father of the Man” in your own journey through life?
- What does natural piety mean to you, and how might it guide your daily choices or relationships?