Selected Poems of William Wordsworth

1
Selected Poems of William Wordsworth

• By
• Christine Yoon
• Shloka Joshi

2
My Heart Leaps Up

• My heart leaps up when I behold    A rainbow in
  the skySo was it when my life beganSo is it
  now I am a manSo be it when I shall grow
  old,    Or let me die!The Child is father of
  the ManAnd I could wish my days to beBound
  each to each by natural piety.

3
My Heart Leaps Up

• My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the
  sky
• Wordsworth expresses his desire to be a part of
  the rainbow and its magnificence.

4
My Heart Leaps Up

• So was it when my life beganSo is it now I am
  a man
• This line insinuates that Wordsworth found life
  to be beautiful and still believes so to this
  day.

5
My Heart Leaps Up

• So be it when I shall grow old,Or let me die!
• Wordsworth claims that he would rather die than
  lose his wonder of the world.

6
My Heart Leaps Up

• The Child is father of the Man
• This line suggests that the child produces the
  man. The man is made from childhood experiences

7
My Heart Leaps Up

• And I could wish my days to beBound each to
  each by natural piety.
• Wordsworth hopes that he will always appreciate
  the wonders of nature throughout his life.

8
Type, Rhyme and Theme

• This poem is a lyrical ballad
• The rhyme scheme in this poem is
  A B C C A B D E
• The theme of this poem is the appreciation of
  nature and the idea of Romanticism

9
Literary Devices

• Paradox- most important concept in this
  poem
• line 7- The Child is father of the Man
• Wordsworth is seeing nature as if he were a
  child again, and it makes him happy to see the
  natural wonders of the world, rather than the man
  made ones.

10
Symbolism

• The concept of the rainbow can be construed as
  hope, promises or even a fulfilled dream.
• Some cultures believe that the rainbow is a
  bridge to the afterlife, one for dead heroes to
  cross to reach paradise, or Valhalla.
• The poem as a whole is symbolic of the beauty of
  nature and Romanticism.

11
The Solitary Reaper

• Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary
  Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself
  Stop here, or gently pass! Alone she cuts and
  binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain
  O listen! for the Vale profound Is overflowing
  with the sound.
• No Nightingale did ever chant More welcome notes
  to weary bands Of travelers in some shady haunt,
  Among Arabian sands A voice so thrilling ne'er
  was heard In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
  Breaking the silence of the seas Among the
  farthest Hebrides.

12
The Solitary Reaper

• Will no one tell me what she sings?-- Perhaps the
  plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-off
  things, And battles long ago Or is it some more
  humble lay, Familiar matter of to-day? Some
  natural sorrow, loss, or pain, That has been, and
  may be again?
• Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang As if her
  song could have no ending I saw her singing at
  her work, And o'er the sickle bending -- I
  listened, motionless and still And, as I mounted
  up the hill The music in my heart I bore, Long
  after it was heard no more.

13
The Solitary Reaper

• Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary
  Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself
  Stop here, or gently pass!
• In this line, Wordsworth is telling the audience
  to listen to a woman who is singing to herself.
  He tells us to stop or gently pass, as if not to
  disturb her.

14
The Solitary Reaper

• Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a
  melancholy strain O listen! for the Vale
  profound Is overflowing with the sound.
• Wordsworth illustrates the woman reaping and
  singing a sad song. He tells the audience how the
  valley is filled with the beautiful sound.

15
The Solitary Reaper

• No Nightingale did ever chant More welcome notes
  to weary bands Of travelers in some shady haunt,
  Among Arabian sands
• The womans voice cannot be compared to a
  nightingale, who is welcoming weary travelers.

16
The Solitary Reaper

• A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In
  spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird, Breaking the
  silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides.
• That even in the springtime, the Cuckoo-birds
  voice was not as thrilling as the womans voice.

17
The Solitary Reaper

• Will no one tell me what she sings?-- Perhaps
  the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy,
  far-off things, And battles long ago
• Wordsworth wonders what she might be singing
  about. He guesses that she is singing about old,
  sad things, perhaps battles.

18
The Solitary Reaper

• Or is it some more humble lay, Familiar matter
  of to-day? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
  That has been, and may be again?
• The womans song might be of more humble things,
  such as things of today.

19
The Solitary Reaper

• Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang As if her
  song could have no ending I saw her singing at
  her work, And o'er the sickle bending
• Whatever she might be singing about, he is
  captivated by the womans singing during her
  work.

20
The Solitary Reaper

• I listened, motionless and still And, as I
  mounted up the hill The music in my heart I bore,
  Long after it was heard no more.
• Wordsworth carries the memory of her song even
  after he has passed her.

21
Anaylsis

• Four eight-line stanzas
• each ending with a couplet
• octosyllabic lines
• written in iambic tetrameter
• Each stanza follows a rhyme scheme of ABABCCDD,
  though in the first and last stanzas the "A"
  rhyme is off (field/self and sang/work).
• Idyll lyric poetry describing the life of the
  shepherd in pastoral, bucolic, idealistic terms.

22
Analysis

• the first stanza sets the scene
• the second offers two bird comparisons for the
  music
• the third wonders about the content of the songs
• the fourth describes the effect of the songs on
  the speaker